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Connecting Cleveland

2020 Citywide Plan

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan is the comprehensive plan for the future of Cleveland and its neighborhoods.¹ It seeks to create great neighborhoods by creating “connections” between people and places and opportunities.

Creating connections means more than developing buildings. It means developing people and developing communities as well. It means linking the “physical” and the “social” in order to create a community that is truly viable and sustainable.

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan proposes not only to build houses but to build neighborhoods – vibrant neighborhoods, safe neighborhoods. It is plan that proposes not only to create shopping centers but to create mixed-use “town centers” that can become the focus of community life. And it is a plan that proposes not only to create jobs but to make job opportunities available to all Clevelanders.

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan lays out a practical vision to achieve its goals through a strategy that builds on the city’s unique assets and the assets in each of its diverse neighborhoods.

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vision

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Cleveland 2020...

...a national leader in biomedical technology and information technology – with connections to the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, NASA and other world-class innovators

...a center for advanced manufacturing – a national model for connecting new technologies to traditional industries

...a community with connections to good jobs for all residents and connections to the education and training demanded by those jobs

...a city with an accessible lakefront and riverfront, connected to waterfront neighborhoods and unique recreation opportunities

...a city of vibrant urban neighborhoods, with mixed-use districts and live-work spaces that attract creative and entrepreneurial people from across the region and the nation

...a community where racial, ethnic and social diversity is not simply tolerated but is embraced and celebrated in every neighborhood as one of Cleveland's greatest assets

...a city known for safe neighborhoods that are family-friendly and senior- friendly, connecting all residents to the conveniences of urban living

...a mecca for the arts and culture, with world-renowned institutions like the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art joined by a vital local arts scene and public art in neighborhoods throughout the city

...a model for healthy living, with walkable neighborhoods, bike routes, ecological design, and community partnerships to provide recreation opportunities to Clevelanders of all ages, incomes and ability levels

...a pioneer in improving public education through partnerships to provide resources based on the needs of students rather than the wealth of communities

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan presents this vision of Cleveland's future, along with the actions that can be taken today to ensure that the vision will become reality.

action

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The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan is more than a vision for Cleveland's future. It is also a "kit of tools" for use in implementing the plan, this year, next year and each year during the life of the plan. Among the plan's tools are:

• a future land use map that sets a pattern for development throughout the city
• recommendations for updates to the City's zoning map and zoning code
• identification of development "opportunity zones" in each Cleveland neighborhood
• proposals for development of contemporary shopping centers and industrial and office parks
• identification of opportunities for new housing on hundreds of acres of land
• plans for bike routes and greenways that connect Clevelanders to waterfronts and other destinations
• identification of transportation and infrastructure improvements to facilitate the plan's development proposals
• policy recommendations for an array of new and updated programs for development and community services.

connections

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connecting people & places

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan is a plan about connections between people and places and opportunities. A great city is not merely a collection of buildings. It is a place of connections. At its simplest, a connection can be a bike path that connects a neighborhood to the waterfront or a bus line that connects people to jobs. At its most fundamental, a connection can be a shared space – an urban plaza, a neighborhood park, a community institution or even a coffee shop – that connects people to one another in a way that creates a sense of "place" and a sense of belonging – that elusive but enduring thing that we call "community."

Other connections link people to the diverse opportunities available in a city – opportunities that for some city residents are so close but yet have remained just out of reach. These are connections to education, social services, jobs, health care, shopping, entertainment, the arts and culture. Finally, in an economy that is increasingly regional and global, there are the ever-more important connections between the neighborhood, the city, the region and the world.

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building on assets

Great neighborhoods and great cities are vibrant places that draw people to them because of the wonderful things they have to offer – because of their "assets."

Cleveland has assets that make it the envy of cities everywhere – from its location on a "great lake," to its unparalleled national transportation access, to its world-renowned cultural, medical and educational institutions.

Every neighborhood in Cleveland has its unique assets as well. Some of these assets are readily apparent, like the West Side Market in Ohio City, Karamu House in Fairfax, or the family-oriented housing in neighborhoods like Lee-Harvard and Kamm’s Corners. Other assets are somewhat hidden – overlooked even by many local residents – and need to be enhanced and publicized, like League Park in Hough or the Big Creek Valley in Old Brooklyn.

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan is an "asset-based" plan that seeks to build on the unique assets of Cleveland and each of its neighborhoods as the foundation for renewed growth and prosperity.

assets

opportunity

regenerating land & buildings

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Almost any Clevelander can see the city's challenges. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan asks Clevelanders to look beyond the challenges, to view the city and its neighborhoods through a new lens, bringing into focus the incredible opportunities for rebirth that are now blurred by the shadow of the city's challenges. "Cleveland re-imagined" can be a city where challenges have been transformed into opportunities.

• Contaminated "brownfield" sites can become opportunities for contemporary large-scale redevelopment.
• Obsolete industrial buildings can be converted to trend-setting "live-work" space for artists and others seeking alternative housing.
• Neglected commercial buildings in the heart of city neighborhoods can be renovated as fashionable "mixed-use" projects, with shops on the ground floor and housing above.
• Troubled neighborhood schools can be redesigned and reprogrammed as neighborhood resource centers that promote interaction between students, parents and the community.
• Abandoned rail lines represent opportunities to create trails for bicycling and hiking.

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re-imagining places

More and more Americans are tiring of "sprawl." They are tired of living in communities with so little character that it is difficult to distinguish one from another. They are tired of living in communities where there is nowhere to walk. Many long for the time when neighbors gathered together at town centers – shopping, working, learning, playing, praying and living, as members of a community.

Ironically, developers are now trying to recreate the traditional urban town center in the midst of freeway-dominated suburbs. Although these developments succeed in some respects, they also testify to the fact that "there's nothing like the real thing!" Cleveland has the real thing – architecturally distinctive, walkable, mixed-use "places" that grew organically from roots that tap deep into the lifeblood of the city.

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan advocates that Cleveland enhance these mixed-use urban districts – connecting them to public transit and bikeways – and preserve their distinctive architecture as its principal strategy for creating competitive places in every city neighborhood.

choice

creating communities of choice

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With each passing year, people are becoming more mobile. Technology and income have freed many Americans, particularly the most talented and best educated, to "leave home" and follow their desires to places that offer what they seek in employment and lifestyle. "Communities of choice" for these individuals have replaced "communities of necessity."

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan recognizes that if Cleveland is to grow and prosper in the 21st century, Cleveland must "reverse the brain drain" and become competitive in attracting and retaining the mobile individual. Cleveland and its neighborhoods must become communities of choice.

Just as important to Cleveland's future, however, is providing more choices for those Clevelanders who today have too few choices. This was the "mantra" of Cleveland's groundbreaking 1975 Policy Planning Report. Sadly, twenty years later, the need is just as great. Far too many Clevelanders remain trapped in "communities of necessity" – trapped by poverty, unemployment, discrimination, disability and inadequate education. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan recognizes that Cleveland will never achieve true greatness until all Clevelanders are able to live in "communities of choice."

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celebrating Cleveland's diversity

Recent statistics show that America's most prosperous cities are those that attract talented individuals of all races, nationalities and lifestyles. These are cities where diversity is welcomed and celebrated. Cleveland is a city with a rich history of diversity. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan proposes that Cleveland fully embrace its diversity, cultivate it, nurture it and market it as a key element of its revitalization strategy.

Cleveland also offers a tremendous diversity of housing types, from single-family to townhouse to "live-work" to high-rise apartments. While many families with children seek opportunities to own single-family houses, many young professionals and seniors are seeking quality rental housing. As the central city of a major metropolitan area, Cleveland can offer the diversity of housing necessary to be truly competitive in attracting all segments of the population.

Finally, Cleveland's size enables it to offer a diversity of opportunities for employment, education, worship, recreation, shopping and culture. Cleveland's challenge is to make these opportunities available to the all segments of its diverse population, regardless of race, nationality, income, age or disability.

diversity

sustainability

building for today and tomorrow

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The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan seeks to re-create Cleveland as a city that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In other words, the plan seeks to create a “sustainable” Cleveland.

A sustainable Cleveland is a city that conserves natural resources so that they are plentiful in the future. A sustainable Cleveland is a city that provides educational and employment opportunities to current residents in order to ensure economic prosperity for future generations. A sustainable Cleveland is city that provides opportunities for healthful living to all citizens.

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan proposes to achieve its goals for sustainability through actions such as the following:

• Create high-density, mixed-use districts that promote travel by transit, walking and bicycling.
• Amend building and zoning codes and add incentives to encourage “green building.”
• Design safe routes for walking and bicycling, accessible to all residents.
• Reduce use of energy and water in City facilities and vehicles.
• Clean contaminated “brownfield” sites and promote beneficial re-use.

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Table of Contents

Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

Introduction.......................................................................................................................... Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................

Summary Document

Citywide Chapters

Population ........................................................................................................................... Housing................................................................................................................................ Retail ................................................................................................................................... Economic Development........................................................................................................ Recreation & Open Space.................................................................................................... Sustainability ........................................................................................................................ Arts & Culture....................................................................................................................... Education & Community Facilities ........................................................................................ Transportation & Transit ....................................................................................................... Safety .................................................................................................................................. Preservation ......................................................................................................................... Opportunity & Equity.............................................................................................................

Land Use & Zoning

Introduction.......................................................................................................................... Land Use Categories ............................................................................................................ “Smart Zoning”...................................................................................................................... Land Use..............................................................................................................................

Capital Improvements

Neighborhood Plans

Planning District 1

Cudell .................................................................................................................................. Jefferson .............................................................................................................................. Kamm's Corners ................................................................................................................. Puritas-Longmead ................................................................................................................ Riverside .............................................................................................................................. West Boulevard ....................................................................................................................

Planning District 2

Brooklyn Centre ................................................................................................................... Clark-Fulton ......................................................................................................................... Detroit-Shoreway ................................................................................................................. Ohio City ............................................................................................................................. Old Brooklyn ........................................................................................................................

Stockyards ............................................................................................................................ Tremont .................................................................................................................................

Planning District 3 Central ................................................................................................................................... Downtown .............................................................................................................................. Goodrich-Kirtland Park ........................................................................................................... Industrial Valley ...................................................................................................................... North Broadway ...................................................................................................................... South Broadway ...................................................................................................................... Planning District 4 Corlett ..................................................................................................................................... Kinsman ................................................................................................................................. Lee-Miles ............................................................................................................................... Mt. Pleasant ........................................................................................................................... Union-Miles ............................................................................................................................ Woodland Hills ........................................................................................................................

Planning District 5 Buckeye-Shaker ..................................................................................................................... Fairfax .................................................................................................................................... Hough ..................................................................................................................................... St. Clair-Superior .................................................................................................................... University ................................................................................................................................

Planning District 6 Euclid-Green ........................................................................................................................... Forest Hills ............................................................................................................................. Glenville ................................................................................................................................. North Collinwood ..................................................................................................................... South Collinwood .....................................................................................................................

Glossary

CONNECTING CLEVELAND 2020

CITYWIDE PLAN

CITY OF CLEVELAND , Mayor

CLEVELAND CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Robert N. Brown, Director Fred Collier, Citywide Plan Project Manager

CITYWIDE PLAN STAFF Michael Bosak Kelley Britt Martin Cader George Cantor Marka Fields Kris Lucskay Claire Posius

CONTRIBUTING STAFF Scott Frantz, capital improvements plan Debbie Berry, lakefront planning Linda Henrichsen, downtown planning Maurice Ruelens, web design Susanne DeGennaro, planning James Danek, planning

ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTORS Dennis Dooley, editing KSU Urban Design Center, graphic design CWRU Poverty Center, demographic analysis Chris Ronayne, Director, 2002-04

CITY PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBERS Anthony Coyne, Chairperson David Bowen Joseph Cimperman, City Council Lillian Kuri Larry Lumpkin Gloria Jean Pinckney Reverend Edward Small

FUNDING The Cleveland Foundation The George Gund Foundation

Special thanks for the contributions of the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition and all its member organizations, Cleveland City Council, Neighborhood Progress, and all the departments of Cleveland City government and the several County and regional agencies who contributed to the preparation of this plan.

This plan is dedicated to the memory of Richard A. Shatten for his extraordinary vision and leadership in advancing planning and economic development in Cleveland and its region.

Steering Committee Bobbie Reichtell, Project Chair Vickie Johnson, Project Co-Chair

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Connecting Cleveland

2020 Citywide Plan Summary

Cleveland City Planning Commission 601 Lakeside Avenue, Room 501 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 (216) 664-2210 http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/

July 2007

CITY OF CLEVELAND Frank G. Jackson, Mayor

CLEVELAND CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Robert Brown, Director Freddy Collier Jr., Citywide Plan Project Manager

CITYWIDE PLAN STAFF Michael Bosak Kelly Britt Martin Cader George Cantor James Danek Marka Fields Kristofer Lucksay Claire Posius

CONTRIBUTING STAFF Scott Frantz, Capital Improvements Plan Debbie Berry, Lakefront Planning Linda Henrichsen, Downtown Planning Maurice Ruelens, Web Design Susan DeGennaro, Planning

ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTORS Dennis Dooley, Editing KSU Urban Design Center, Graphic Design CWRU Poverty Center, Demographic Analysis City Architecture, Plan Mapping Chris Ronayne, Director, 2002-2004

CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Anthony Coyne, Chairperson David Bowen Joseph Cimperman, City Council Lillian Kuri Lawrence Lumpkin Gloria Jean Pinkney Norman Krumholz

FUNDING The Cleveland Foundation The George Gund Foundation

Special thanks for the contributions of the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition and all its member organizations, Cleveland City Council, Neighborhood Progress, Inc, and all the departments of Cleveland City government, Cuyahoga County government and regional agencies that contributed to the preparation of this plan.

This plan is dedicated to the memory of Richard A. Shatten for his extraordinary vision and leadership in advancing planning and economic development in Cleveland and the region.

CONTENTS

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OVERVIEW

The Comprehensive Plan..................................................................................................1 Evolution of a Civic Vision...............................................................................................2 Connecting Cleveland.......................................................................................................3

CLEVELAND IN PERSPECTIVE

Introduction......................................................................................................................4 Strengths...........................................................................................................................4 Challenges.........................................................................................................................6

PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION

The Vision.........................................................................................................................8 Guiding Principles............................................................................................................9 A Neighborhood-Based Plan...........................................................................................10 Implementation.................................................................................................................11

GOALS AND POLICIES

Housing............................................................................................................................13 Retail................................................................................................................................15 Economic Development....................................................................................................17 Recreation and Open Space..............................................................................................19 Community Services..........................................................................................................21 Safety................................................................................................................................23 Transportation and Infrastructure......................................................................................25 Arts and Culture...............................................................................................................27 Sustainability....................................................................................................................29 Preservation......................................................................................................................31

OVERVIEW

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What is the measure of a great city? The height of its skyscrapers? The size of its convention center? The number of Fortune 500 companies within its borders? The records of its sports teams? Although each of these can contribute to greatness, the ultimate measure of a city's greatness is the quality of life it offers to its citizens.

A great city connects its citizens to great choices in housing, education, employment, services, shopping, entertainment and culture as well as to opportunities to live in neighborhoods that are safe, secure and vibrant. A great city truly can be a place that nurtures the body, the mind and the spirit of those who choose to make the city home.

Just as importantly, a great city is a "city of choice and of choices" not just for its most privileged but also for those who have been denied access to many of the pathways that can lead to success and fulfillment in life.

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan is a new tool in Cleveland's climb to become a city of choice – a city that connects people and places and opportunities. This Summary introduces the plan and highlights its citywide recommendations. The full plan treats these citywide issues in greater detail, presents a block-by-block "future land use map," and focuses attention on each of Cleveland's 36 neighborhoods. [The complete plan is available online at http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us.]

THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

Cleveland's City Charter (in Section 76-2) directs the City Planning Commission to "make and adopt a general plan for the development and improvement of the city." This "general plan," more commonly known as a "comprehensive plan," serves as a blueprint or a roadmap for development and revitalization activities in the City.

The comprehensive plan establishes an overarching vision of the City's future, typically looking out at least ten years, and provides guidance on development-related decisions that must be made on a day-to-day basis. Although some of a plan's recommendations will occur quickly, it is important to understand that other recommendations will occur only when market conditions are right or when necessary funding becomes available. Given this limited availability of public funds and the limited availability of land, the comprehensive plan is an essential tool in ensuring that the City makes the best use of scarce resources and in preventing the City from pursuing policies or supporting projects that work at cross-purposes.

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CLEVELAND CIVIC VISION 2000 CITYWIDE PLAN

EVOLUTION OF A CIVIC VISION

Between 1950 and 1990, Cleveland lost nearly half of its population and more than half of its jobs in manufacturing, historically the city's top job-producing sector. The concurrent increase in urban sprawl left behind a host of problems including vacant property, unemployment and contaminated land. As these challenges became increasingly evident, so too did the lack of a comprehensive strategy to address them and to take advantage of the emerging market for redevelopment.

Cleveland’s Civic Vision 2000 Plan, completed in 1990, confronted these challenges by presenting a vision to re-structure Cleveland as a smaller but more viable city. The plan fostered the concentration of retail businesses in strategically located “neighborhood town centers.” The plan also facilitated creative re-use of excess industrial and commercial land, a resurgence in residential development, new industrial parks near freeway interchanges, and increased attention to urban design issues.

Although Civic Vision, in many respects, put Cleveland back on track, it has been aptly observed, “even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.”¹

The 21st century presents Cleveland with challenges and opportunities that were not fully anticipated in 1990. Among the most pressing is the accelerating shift toward a knowledge-based economy – both a challenge and an opportunity for a city struggling to educate its children, yet rich in institutions of higher education and medical innovation. Just as significant are new opportunities to create competitive, mixed-use urban communities, fueled by changing demographics and changing lifestyles.

The redevelopment successes of the 90’s made it increasingly evident to Clevelanders that physical development is not enough, as debilitating poverty persisted in the shadows of new buildings rising across the urban landscape. Unaddressed social needs have a way of undoing the best-laid plans of architects and planners. It is clear that “place-based” strategies addressing land use and physical development must be coupled with “people-based” strategies that address people’s needs for connections to education, jobs, services, recreation and the arts, as well as the need for “connectedness” to neighbors and to a supportive community.

Cleveland, however, is a resilient city that has the ability to use the assets it built during its peak years to re-invent itself as a competitive place to live and do business for generations to come.

• Will Rogers, early 20th century American humorist

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CONNECTING CLEVELAND

The theme of the new Citywide Plan is "connections." The plan is premised on the understanding that a great city is not merely a collection of buildings, but it is a place of connections – connections between people and places and opportunities. At its simplest, a connection can be a bike path that connects a neighborhood to the waterfront or a bus line that connects people to jobs. At its most fundamental, a connection can be a shared space – an urban plaza, a neighborhood park, a community institution or even a coffee shop – that connects people to one another in a way that creates a sense of "place" and a sense of belonging – that elusive but enduring thing that we call "community."

Other essential connections link people to the diverse opportunities available in a city – opportunities that for some city residents are so close but yet have remained just out of reach. These are connections to education, social services, jobs, health care, shopping, entertainment, the arts and culture – the full array of opportunities and resources that only a large metropolitan area can provide. In this sense, the Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan is a plan that connects the "physical" and the "social" to create communities that are truly viable and sustainable.

CLEVELAND IN PERSPECTIVE

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INTRODUCTION

As technology continues to make the world a smaller place, people and businesses have never been so mobile. Gone are the days when parents could expect their children to grow up and remain close to home, and gone too are the days when communities could expect their hometown stores and businesses to remain as fixtures for a lifetime. For Cleveland to grow and prosper in the 21st century, Cleveland must find new ways to compete in attracting residents and businesses, not just in competition with its suburbs, but also in competition with other metropolitan areas across the nation and the world.

How does Cleveland rank against other U.S. cities and metropolitan areas? Frankly assessing Cleveland’s deficiencies and aggressively building on its strengths is a prerequisite for Cleveland’s renewed success. It cannot be denied that Cleveland has fallen from the heights it had reached when it was the nation’s 5th largest city, with rapid job growth and a school system that was the envy of the region and the nation. Cleveland, however, is a resilient city that has the ability to use the assets it built during its peak years to re-invent itself as a competitive place to live and do business for generations to come.

STRENGTHS

Cleveland's strengths range from the inherent advantage of its location on Lake Erie to the cultural and civic assets it developed when it was one of the nation's very largest cities to the newly developing assets flowing from the innovations of its medical and educational institutions. More specifically, Cleveland's principal strengths relative to other U.S. cities and regions include the following.

Metropolitan Population. Cleveland is the central city of the 16th largest metropolitan area in the nation, making Cleveland a major economic market.

Downtown Population. The population of downtown Cleveland, although still relatively small, increased by 1/3 between 1990 and 2000, one of the largest gains recorded among major U.S. cities.

Medical Innovation. Cleveland is home to the Cleveland Clinic, consistently ranked as the nation’s top cardiac center, and University Hospitals, featuring one of the nation’s top-ranked pediatric hospitals.

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Cleveland’s institutions of higher learning have become increasingly important assets for economic development. [Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western Reserve University]

Higher Education. Cleveland is home to Case Western Reserve University, the only Ohio institution ranked among the nation’s top 50 universities, and Cleveland State University, featuring one of the nation’s top ten colleges of urban affairs.

Information Technology. Cleveland has been recognized as a national leader in creating the “ultra-broadband” network needed to fuel information technology business development.

Waterfronts. The shorelines of Lake Erie and the banks of the Cuyahoga River and its tributaries give Cleveland unparalleled opportunities for waterfront recreation.

Water. Lake Erie gives Cleveland a supply of fresh water – supporting both manufacturing and residential development – that is the envy of cities across the nation, particularly in regions where fresh water is a scarce and precious commodity.

Air. Cleveland’s airport system, including Cleveland Hopkins International and Burke Lakefront Airports, represents Ohio’s premier airline passenger and corporate general aviation options, respectively. Both are powerful local and regional economic engines while providing strategic and critical access to the world economy for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.

Location and Accessibility. Cleveland is centrally located in the most populous region of the United States. In 2004, Cleveland was ranked first in the Midwest and fourth in the nation as a location for “logistics management,” with Cleveland’s interstate highway access cited as its top-ranking asset. In the most recent annual study of traffic congestion across the nation, the University of Texas ranks Cleveland 73rd in delays caused by congestion – making Cleveland one of the most accessible metropolitan areas in the United States

Neighborhood Institutions. Cleveland is a city known nationally for the quantity and quality of its neighborhood organizations, including community development corporations that combine grassroots connections with technical skills to create unique capabilities for revitalizing neighborhoods.

Philanthropic Support. Cleveland benefits from unusually strong philanthropic support from the non-profit and corporate sectors, including the Cleveland Foundation, the nation’s oldest and second largest community foundation and the model for community foundations worldwide.

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Five decades of population loss in Cleveland have left a legacy of abandoned houses, particularly in near east side and near west side neighborhoods.

CHALLENGES

The Brookings Institution analyzed data from the 2000 U.S. Census for Cleveland and 22 other cities. That analysis leaves no doubt that Cleveland faces serious challenges in creating a quality of life and an economic climate competitive with that found in its peer cities. Among the most significant findings in the Brookings analysis are the following.

Population. Cleveland is now the 33rd largest city in America (in 2000), after having peaked as the 5th largest city in America in 1920 and having held onto a position in America's top ten most populous cities until 1970.

Income. The median income of households in the City of Cleveland grew during the 1990s but ranks third lowest among the 100 largest cities in America.

Poverty. The poverty rate in Cleveland declined in the 1990s but still ranked third highest among the 23 target cities in the 2000 U.S. Census. Cleveland has the second-highest black and Hispanic poverty rates of the 23 target cities in the Brookings analysis.

Education. The percentage of Cleveland adults holding bachelor's degrees is fifth lowest among the 100 largest cities. Cleveland has the fourth highest share of older teens who left high school without a diploma.

Employment. At the time of the 2000 U.S. Census survey, Cleveland had the highest unemployment rate among the 23 target cities.

Immigration. Cleveland had the lowest foreign-born population share among the 23 cities studied by the Brookings Institution. In addition, only one in six Cleveland residents arrived within the last five years, giving Cleveland the sixth lowest share of "new arrivals" among the 23 target cities.

College Students. Cleveland has the second smallest university student population among the 23 target cities.

Economically Dependent Population. Seventy children and seniors are being supported by every 100 of Cleveland's working-age adults – the second highest percentage of economically dependent population found among the 23 target cities.

Households and Families. Compared to the other cities, Cleveland has a relatively small married-couple family population and a large single-parent family population.

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The loss of over 150,000 manufacturing jobs has left Cleveland with the challenge of finding productive re-use for abandoned industrial buildings. [near East 55th and Central Avenue]

Segregation. Although the proportion of non-white population in Cleveland is roughly the same as the average in the 23 cities studied by the Brookings Institution, segregation of blacks from whites and of blacks from Hispanics, however, is far greater in Cleveland, with Cleveland ranking the 8th most segregated among the 23 cities.

Jobs in Manufacturing. The percentage of Cleveland workers employed in manufacturing – a sector of the economy that has experienced significant job losses – is nearly double the average for the 23 target cities.

Job Location. Only four of the 23 target cities have a smaller percentage of their working residents employed inside the city's boundaries than is the case in Cleveland. Over half of all commutes in the Cleveland metropolitan area begin and end in the suburbs.

Age of Housing Stock. Half of Cleveland's housing units were built before World War II – the second highest percentage among the 23 target cities.

NOTE: The 23 cities included in the analysis by the Brookings Institution area as follows (in order of population): New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Detroit, Indianapolis, Columbus, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Baltimore, Boston, Washington, Seattle, Denver, Portland, Cleveland, Kansas City, Atlanta, Oakland, Miami, Newark

PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION

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THE VISION

What kind of place will Cleveland be in the year 2020? The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan presents a vision of Cleveland as a community that has learned how to make the most of its strengths and has re-positioned itself as …..

• a national leader in biomedical technology and information technology – with connections to the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, NASA and other world-class innovators
• a center for advanced manufacturing – a national model for connecting new technologies to traditional industries
• a community with connections to good jobs for all residents and connections to the education and training demanded by those jobs
• a city known for safe neighborhoods that are family-friendly and senior-friendly, with first-class city services provided to all residents
• a pioneer in improving public education through partnerships to provide resources based on the needs of students rather than the wealth of communities
• a city known for its accessible lakefront and riverfront, connected to waterfront neighborhoods and unique recreation opportunities
• a city of vibrant urban neighborhoods, with mixed-use districts and “live-work” spaces that attract creative and entrepreneurial individuals from across the region and the nation
• a community where racial, ethnic and social diversity is not simply tolerated but is embraced and celebrated in every neighborhood as one of Cleveland’s greatest assets
• a mecca for the arts and culture, with world-renowned institutions like the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art joined by a vital local arts scene and public art in neighborhoods throughout the city
• a model for healthy living and sustainable development, with walkable neighborhoods, bike routes, ecological design, and community partnerships to provide recreation opportunities to Clevelanders of all ages, incomes and ability levels

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THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES

In crafting its vision, the Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan is guided by the following principles:

• Connections: connecting people and places and opportunities
• Assets: building on assets in the city and each of its neighborhoods
• Opportunity: "re-imagining" Cleveland to turn challenges into opportunities
• Place: creating competitive urban "places" with character and identity
• Choice: creating "communities of choice" in Cleveland for residents with many choices as well as for those with relatively few choices
• Diversity: embracing and celebrating diversity in people, housing and opportunities
• Sustainability: building a community that is healthful and viable

These are the principles that underlie the plan and are incorporated into its goals, polices and recommendations for the City and for each of its neighborhoods. These principles will also inform and guide future actions on planning and development issues that emerge in the years after the plan's adoption.

Planning Districts 1 – 6 and Neighborhood Areas*

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*Neighborhood areas are known as “Statistical Planning Areas” (SPAs)

A NEIGHBORHOOD-BASED PLAN

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan is built on a foundation of plans created by neighborhood residents and stakeholders.* These grassroots plans are the building blocks for the Citywide Plan, firmly grounding the plan in the reality experienced by those who live and work in each neighborhood. By connecting neighborhood-based plans to a citywide planning context, Cleveland’s Citywide Plan is able to address neighborhood-level issues with policies that require a citywide approach. Just as importantly, the integration of neighborhood-based plans into the Citywide Plan makes it possible for the plan to address neighborhood issues with a degree of detail not typically seen in a citywide general plan.

In crafting and presenting its vision, the Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan organizes the City around clusters of neighborhoods, rather than wards, as was the case with the plan’s predecessor, Civic Vision 2000. This neighborhood-based structure allows that plan to focus holistically on each City neighborhood as a building block of the larger plan. In order to consider the interaction between neighborhoods, the plan then groups 36 Cleveland neighborhoods (also known as Statistical Planning Areas) into six “districts,” which closely correspond to the City’s six Police Districts and Community Relations Districts.

Connecting Cleveland 2020 devotes a separate chapter to each of these six planning districts. Within each district chapter, the plan draws a portrait of each of the district’s neighborhoods, identifying the assets and opportunities that characterize that neighborhood. Issues that transcend neighborhood boundaries are discussed at the district level.

*Copies of many of these neighborhood plans can be viewed through electronic links on the web-based version of the Citywide Plan.

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Zoning is a key tool for implementing recommendations of the Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan.

IMPLEMENTATION

It has been said, only partly in jest, "to plan is human, to implement is divine." Plans that fail to produce results are, in fact, so common that the phrase "plans that sit on the shelf" has become a part of our vocabulary. To avoid this fate, the Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan has been designed to "jumpstart" its implementation by incorporating implementation strategies and capital improvement recommendations into the plan itself.

No plan, however, can implement itself. Implementation of the Connecting Cleveland plan will require the coordinated efforts of all segments of City government and, critically, a precedent-setting degree of regional cooperation. Many of the tools necessary to implement the plan are already in place, but some of these tools are outdated and need to be re-thought and re-configured if they are to be effective in realizing the emerging vision for Cleveland’s future. An effective implementation strategy for the Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan needs to include the following components.

Marketing. Cleveland is a community rich in assets – from its location on a Great Lake to the excellence of its cultural life and from its national transportation connections to its affordable cost of living. Effectively marketing these and other assets can attract businesses and residents to Cleveland without an over-reliance on financial incentives that deprive the City and its schools of the revenues required to provide first-class services.

Neighborhood Connections. One means of improving the quality of life in Cleveland’s neighborhoods is to view each neighborhood holistically – with the goal of better coordinating and focusing the multitude of governmental and private services that are provided to that neighborhood.

Zoning. Innovative zoning regulations and an updating of the City’s zoning map are core components in implementing the Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan. That process has already begun and includes creation of the City’s first research district, first live-work district, first pedestrian-oriented retail district, and the City’s first zoning district that mandates mixed-use, multi-story development – each designed to implement aspects of the plan’s vision. Along with the zoning initiatives are design guidelines established to ensure that new development enhances the character of Cleveland’s neighborhoods and retail districts.

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Neighborhood-based plans form the building blocks for the Citywide Plan's future land use map. Specialized zoning districts are being used in implementing the plan.

Capital Improvements. The Citywide Plan identifies capital improvement projects that can be catalysts for the plan's development recommendations – such as a new road or a new transit connection proposed to provide improved access for economic development. In addition, the Citywide Plan is already being used as input for the City's newly re-instituted 5-year capital planning process, thereby helping the City to make strategic use of limited funds.

Incentive Programs. Financial subsidies have fueled much of Cleveland's recent redevelopment. The Citywide Plan recommends that current incentive programs be re-evaluated to ensure that they achieve their objectives in a manner that minimizes use of limited City resources. The plan also recommends that programs be restructured or created to meet newly defined objectives, such as the promotion of "green" building, transit-oriented development, mixed-use development, technology transfer initiatives, and healthy lifestyles.

Funding Resources. It is recognized that City resources alone will not be sufficient to achieve the goals laid out in the Citywide Plan. Consequently, the plan emphasizes the need for creative partnerships between the City, other governments and the private sector in pursuit of the plan's goals. A listing of current funding sources is incorporated into the text of the full plan.

Community Engagement. Meaningful and broad-based public participation is critical in ensuring that the plan has the community support necessary for its implementation. The fact that the Connecting Cleveland plan is built on a firm base of community engagement is a good start, but the success of the plan will depend on a commitment on the part of the City and neighborhood-based organizations to continue that engagement.

GOALS AND POLICIES

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Providing alternative housing types, such as “live-work” units, is one way of capitalizing on the City’s urban character to attract new residents. [Loftworks in Goodrich-Kirtland Park neighborhood]

GOAL: Provide new and renovated housing that meets the needs and preferences of Clevelanders of all incomes, ages and lifestyles

HOUSING

Issues

After decades with virtually no significant housing development, Cleveland now leads the region in the creation of new housing. Hundreds of new single-family houses and townhouses are breathing new life into neighborhoods in every part of the City. Conversion of obsolete warehouses into upscale housing and “live-work” spaces has attracted thousands of new residents seeking uniquely urban living environments. At the same time, programs for affordable housing and supportive housing are creating housing opportunities for those whose needs are not served by the private market. In the effort to meet its housing goals, the City must address issues as divergent as homelessness and suburban competition. More specifically, among the housing issues facing Cleveland are the following.

• current housing choices that fail to fully meet the needs of individuals of all ages and incomes and ability levels
• inadequate supply of housing that can attract mobile individuals with many housing choices
• adapting housing incentives to changing market conditions
• homelessness and the associated needs for supportive services
• excessive numbers of dilapidated and abandoned residential buildings
• weak private market for housing rehabilitation even in neighborhoods where new housing is being developed
• obstacles to assembling sites for large-scale housing developments

Policies

1. Decent and Affordable Housing. Give highest priority among the City’s housing initiatives to the provision of decent and affordable housing for all Clevelanders.

2. Alternative Housing. Attract residents seeking an urban lifestyle by offering alternative housing types, including townhouses, condominiums, live-work spaces, and converted commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.

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Outstanding design and affordability do not have to be mutually exclusive goals in the development of new housing. [Arbor Park Village low-income housing development in the Central neighborhood]

3. Competitive Places. Create and preserve neighborhoods that are competitive urban places, characterized by mixed-use development, pedestrian-friendly design and transit access.

4. Housing Choice. Provide a diversity of housing types in neighborhoods throughout the city, maximizing choices for residents of all incomes, ages, ability levels and social circumstances.

5. Code Enforcement. Target residential code enforcement in a manner that helps stabilize neighborhoods without causing undue hardships for low-income households.

6. Housing Incentives. Ensure that financial incentives for housing development are the minimum necessary to be effective, and do not result in undue losses of revenue for city services or the public schools.

7. Rehabilitation. Give priority to housing rehabilitation as the most effective means of making affordable housing available to the greatest number of residents.

8. Land Assembly. Promote housing development through strategic, proactive land assembly.

9. Homelessness. Address homelessness through a multi-faceted strategy that includes emergency shelters, permanent supportive housing, medical and social services, and job training.

10. Senior Housing. Develop housing for senior citizens in proximity to shopping, medical facilities, social services, and public transportation.

11. Design. Ensure that the design of new and renovated houses complements the character of the surrounding neighborhood, through a design review process that is effective, expeditious and equitable.

12. Neighborhood Plans. Locate infill houses where neighborhood plans ensure a supportive environment for residential development.

13. Green Building. Encourage use of "green building" techniques in new and renovated housing through code changes and financial incentives.

14. Housing Accessibility. Expand the range of residential opportunities for persons with special housing needs.

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A central focus of the Citywide Plan’s retail strategy is to re-establish the competitiveness of Cleveland’s neighborhood retail districts by building upon their traditional strengths as pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use districts with distinctive architectural character. [West 25th Street in Ohio City]

GOAL: Provide Cleveland residents with a broad range of high quality, conveniently located retail shopping opportunities

RETAIL

Issues

Recent years have seen a marked improvement in shopping opportunities in many Cleveland neighborhoods, with the development of contemporary shopping centers and the renovation of historic retail buildings through the City’s Storefront Renovation Program. Nonetheless, Clevelanders remain underserved with respect to the quality and variety of shopping opportunities available in their neighborhoods and in their city. Studies show that Cleveland residents spend over a billion dollars a year in retail stores outside the City – thirty-three cents on every dollar spent on retail purchases.

As new and renovated housing has risen in Cleveland’s neighborhoods, there is a growing mismatch between the increased spending power of residents and the lesser quality and variety of the retail shopping that serves their neighborhoods. The lack of a full range of quality retailing, along with the poor physical condition of some retail makes these otherwise attractive districts, neighborhoods less desirable as places to live. These issues and others, as highlighted below, must be addressed if Cleveland is to meet its goal to provide all Cleveland residents with a broad range of high-quality retailing.

• poor-quality and limited variety of retailing in many neighborhoods
• mismatch between residents’ spending power and retail shopping opportunities
• unattractive “streetscapes,” signage and storefronts
• retail districts lacking distinctive identities, consistent business hours, joint marketing, etc.
• lack of convenient parking and transit options
• intrusion of auto-oriented development into pedestrian-oriented districts
• sparse retailing and vacant building and lots along major streets
• safety problems and perceptions
• absence of “big draw” retail anchors
• lack of assembled land for large-scale retail development
• ability of locally-owned businesses to compete with national chains

⬚ figure Strategically located large-scale shopping centers can complement services offered in traditional urban retail districts. [site of Steelyard Commons shopping center]

Policies

1. Building on Strengths. Re-establish the competitiveness of Cleveland's neighborhood retail districts by building upon their traditional strengths as pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use districts with distinctive architectural character.
2. Preservation. Give priority to renovation and infill development, as opposed to large-scale new development, as the principal means of providing competitive retail shopping in Cleveland.
3. Building Smart. Strategically locate and design a limited number of large-scale shopping centers in a manner that will stem the outflow of retail spending from the City of Cleveland, while complementing the City's traditional retail districts.
4. Consolidating. Consolidate retail shopping to create and reinforce mixed-use "town centers" that serve as focal points of neighborhood activity.
5. Niche Marketing. Transform selected retail districts into regional attractions by clustering stores around common themes – including arts and culture, ethnic identities, antiques, and recreation and scenic resources.
6. Tapping the Market. Improve the quantity and quality of retailing in Cleveland neighborhoods by tapping into the hidden market that is often overlooked by national retailers, particularly in neighborhoods with large numbers of minorities and immigrants.
7. Creating Employment. Recognize that retailing provides jobs that are often the first introduction to the workforce for young people and that provide senior citizens with opportunities for supplemental income and socialization.
8. Creating Wealth. Maximize opportunities for Cleveland residents to own and operate retail businesses in the City.
9. Connecting to Transit. Link new and revitalized retail development to public transit, as well as to bicycle routes and cyclist amenities.
10. Building Safe. Design retail developments to maximize public safety, and work with merchant and community organizations to ensure ongoing safety.
11. Streetscape. Improve the appearance and vitality of retail district "streetscapes" through use of public art, banners and signs, benches, street trees, decorative paving, underground wiring, sidewalk cafes, etc.
12. Parking. Develop strategically located shared parking lots and garages in neighborhood retail districts that are under-served by parking.

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Cleveland can capitalize on the presence of leading medical and educational institutions to attract bio-medical and information technology businesses. [Cleveland Clinic Heart Center]

GOAL: Increase economic prosperity through job creation and improved access to jobs and business ownership by all segments of the Cleveland community

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Issues

During the first half of the 20th century, Cleveland's economy boomed in an era when the steel industry was king. Workers from Europe and later from the rural south flocked to Cleveland to find work and to raise families. Many of these manufacturing jobs paid well and required relatively little education.

Today, another wave of opportunities is rolling in, except that this time the revolution is taking place in knowledge-based occupations. Cleveland is well positioned to capture a significant share of these jobs, given the region's assets in world-class medical institutions and universities, as well as its legacy of manufacturing know-how. Cleveland's challenge is to re-tool its industries and re-educate its workforce to compete in this knowledge-based economy. Cleveland also has an historic opportunity to create the vital urban neighborhoods – "neighborhoods of choice" – capable of attracting individuals with the education and talent to fuel those knowledge-based businesses.

Nationally, the most prosperous regions are those that radiate out from strong, vibrant central cities. Likewise, it is not an oversimplification to state that northeast Ohio will prosper in the 21¹ century only if Cleveland prospers. For Cleveland and its region to prosper, both must focus on expanding the economic base – not merely shifting jobs from one part of the region to another, but creating wealth by growing and attracting businesses that export goods and services outside the local economy.

Policies

1. Health Care Commerce. Capitalize on the presence of world-renowned medical and educational institutions to grow businesses involved in health care procedures and products, while attracting patients and visitors from outside the region.
2. Advanced Manufacturing. Promote product design, product innovation and productivity process improvements to help industry shift from traditional production to higher-value and specialized output in sectors where Cleveland can create competitive advantages.

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Despite long-term job losses, heavy manufacturing remains a vital part of Cleveland’s economy. [train at Mittal Steel plant on Cuyahoga River.]

3. “Center of the Center”. Strengthen the amenities, attractions, businesses and residential environment in the central city and its downtown as a keystone for regional economic growth.

4. Learning. Strengthen public education and access to lifelong workforce learning opportunities as a foundation for building a globally competitive economy and personal prosperity for Cleveland residents.

5. Opportunity and Equity. Ensure that all Clevelanders have the opportunity to benefit from local economic development activity.

6. Infrastructure. Plan long-term, coordinated improvements in roadways, transit, waterways, fiber and other infrastructure to foster retention and expansion of the economic base.

7. Adaptive Re-Use. Bring back into productive economic use advantageously located vacant properties and brownfield sites.

8. Eco-Industry. Make Cleveland a national leader in the development and application of green building, environmental remediation, alternative energy and sustainability technologies.

9. Land Assembly. Assemble freeway-accessible sites large enough to accommodate industrial and office park development..

10. Regionalism. Promote the region’s broad range of business assets in competing collectively to attract businesses from beyond our regional economy.

11. Incentives. Use pubic financial incentives in proportion to the resulting local economic benefits, while ensuring that assistance program meets the full range of capital needs.

12. “Hassle Factor”. Make it easier and more predictable to do business in and with the City by implementing a customer-focused approach to regulation and approvals and by providing incentives in a manner that is transparent and easy to navigate.

13. Quality of Life. Create vibrant urban neighborhoods capable of attracting individuals who will fuel entrepreneurship and “new economy” businesses.

14. Arts and Culture. Utilize the arts and cultural offerings to attract highly talented and skilled individuals to live and work in the city.

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Maximizing public access to waterfronts is an essential ingredient in any recipe for making Cleveland a more competitive place. [Whiskey Island on Lake Erie]

GOAL: Provide high-quality recreation opportunities and facilities that meet the needs of Clevelanders of all ages, ability levels, incomes and interests

RECREATION & OPEN SPACE

Issues

Recreation amenities are becoming increasingly important to communities competing to attract and retain residents. In addition, the link between recreation and good health has become more and more evident. Bikeways, walking trails, climbing walls, skateparks, health clubs and marinas are now among the recreation amenities expected by residents choosing a place to live, in addition to such traditional facilities as playgrounds, baseball fields, swimming pools and the like.

Although Cleveland is extraordinarily fortunate to be located on a Great Lake and along a major river valley, the region has failed to take full advantage of these natural assets as places of recreation. That is changing and will change even more dramatically as Cleveland's current waterfront plans are implemented. The potential for enhanced waterfront access gives Cleveland an historic opportunity to transform its image to a place where urban amenities are joined by scenic beauty and unique outdoor recreation activities.

Another set of issues facing Cleveland revolves around the City's network of 140 parks, playgrounds, swimming pools and recreation centers. As the City's population has declined over the decades, its ability to maintain and program these facilities has been severely tested. The principal issue facing the City in this respect is how to provide the quality of recreation facilities and programs demanded by residents while living within the budget of a community with a reduced population and reduced resources.

Policies

1. Waterfront Access. Maximize public access to the lakefront, riverfront and stream valleys, including safe and convenient access from nearby neighborhoods for pedestrians and bicyclists.
2. Waterfront Recreation. Develop and expand publicly accessible recreation sites along the lakefront and waterways.

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Extension of the Towpath Trail to downtown Cleveland will open new recreation opportunities for City residents and will serve as the spine of a regional network of bike routes. [Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation]

3. Bikeways. Create a comprehensive network of bicycle routes, bicycle lanes and multi-purpose trails, safely linking neighborhoods to recreation sites, schools, shopping areas, places of employment and other destinations throughout the City and the region.

4. Bicycle and Pedestrian Amenities. Provide bicycle racks, benches, water fountains and other amenities to encourage bicycling and pedestrian travel throughout the City.

5. Serving Neighborhoods. Ensure that a wide range of recreation facilities are equitably distributed throughout the City, with playgrounds located within approximately 1/4-mile (a 5-minute walk) of all residents.

6. Quality of Facilities. Provide recreation facilities competitive with the best available in the region, consolidating large-scale facilities at transit-accessible locations.

7. Diverse Programming. Offer a diversity of recreation programs to serve the recreation needs and interests of Clevelanders of all ages, incomes, lifestyles and ability levels.

8. Serving Working Adults. Provide recreation services and equipment geared to the interests and schedules of working adults, supplementing recreation services oriented principally to children and seniors.

9. Sharing Resources. Increase the availability and quality of recreation services through shared use of facilities owned by the City, School District, YMCA and other non-profit organizations.

10. Sharing Responsibilities. Improve maintenance at public parks and recreation centers through “adopt-a-park” programs and corporate sponsorships.

11. Community Gardens. Reserve land for both temporary and permanent use as community gardens in every neighborhood throughout the City.

12. Preserving Natural Areas. Identify and protect natural areas characterized by stream valleys, wetlands, hillsides, forests and other environmentally sensitive and valuable features.

13. Urban Forest. Protect and expand the supply of street trees and landscaped areas within Cleveland’s urbanized districts, maximizing environmental and aesthetic benefits.

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Schools can be designed and operated to serve as multi-purpose community centers, with a variety of activities offered during non-school hours. [Nathan Hale Middle School in Mt. Pleasant]

GOAL: Connect communities and their institutions in a manner that nurtures the physical, mental and spiritual life of all residents

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Issues

The quality of life offered by a neighborhood is measured not only by the quality of its housing but by the quality of its services. Schools, libraries, medical offices, social service agencies and other community facilities provide services that are the prerequisites for a superior quality of life. These services have the power to connect all members of the community to opportunities to achieve economic security and personal fulfillment.

Beyond the services themselves, the buildings that house these facilities can be powerful symbols of community. They embody our shared values and they are a visible acknowledgement that we are only as strong as the weakest among us and that our community's future depends on our ability to maximize the potential of every member of the community.

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan recognizes that even the best of services will be poorly delivered if the service facilities are not properly located, sited and designed. Those considerations are, therefore, critical elements of the plan and its implementation. Underlying most issues regarding the provision of community facilities and services is the commitment on the part of the wider community to provide financial and creative resources commensurate with the needs of residents in the City and in each of its neighborhoods.

Policies

1. Schools as Community Resources. Utilize schools as centers for community education, open in the evenings and weekends for use by students as well as other neighborhood residents, as financial resources permit.
2. School Design. Ensure that schools are designed and sited so as to facilitate excellence in education and connections to the surrounding community.
3. Education Partnerships. Encourage businesses, institutions, universities and faith-based organizations to partner with local schools in offering diverse education and training opportunities for students and adults.

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Convenient access is a prerequisite to providing effective community services to residents of City neighborhoods. [MetroHealth medical center on Broadway]

4. Equitable Funding for Schools. Advocate for a statewide system of school funding that responds to the needs of students rather than to the wealth of communities.

5. Education Options. Provide Clevelanders with education options that include traditional schools, magnet schools and charter schools, both public and private.

6. Coordinated Neighborhood Services. Facilitate cooperation between local service providers and community organizations to work at the neighborhood level to address the comprehensive needs of residents for education, training, health care, and social services.

7. Personal Development. Create locally-based programs that foster personal development and ethics as the foundation for strengthening the social fabric of communities and ensuring a better quality of life for residents.

8. Community Libraries. Support full-service libraries as centers for lifelong learning and intergenerational learning in each of Cleveland’s neighborhoods.

9. Community Health Care. Ensure that medical offices are located so as to supplement full-scale hospitals in serving residents of all Cleveland neighborhoods and that critical health care education is provided to students in elementary and secondary schools.

10. Capital Improvements. Coordinate capital improvements planning between the City and the School District to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of those expenditures.

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Design features such as front porches and windows that put "eyes on the street" can make a significant and long-term contribution to improving neighborhood safety.

GOAL: Improve public safety through safety-conscious design and through community-based solutions focused on crime prevention

SAFETY

Issues

Safety is the most fundamental characteristic of a desirable neighborhood. Nothing is more important to the well-being of residents than safety. The job of creating safe neighborhoods, however, cannot rest solely on police and fire and EMS officers. It takes the efforts of residents, businesses, judges, teachers, social workers and a host of others. City planning has an important but often overlooked role to play, particularly in the critical area of crime prevention.

The design and layout of developments can help prevent crime or can make crime more likely. Areas hidden from view work to the advantage of criminals; areas open to public view and surveillance work to the advantage of residents, shoppers and employees. Similarly, poorly lit areas work to the advantage of criminals, while well-lit areas work to the advantage of the public.

Just as important in preventing crime is action by the community to organize against crime. Merchants’ associations, block clubs and other groups, working in partnership with the police, can play a critical role in sending a message to criminals that their presence will not be tolerated. These same groups are working with local government and the courts to control and eliminate the dilapidated vacant buildings that are havens for drug trafficking and other crimes, while targeting other high-crime areas for additional police presence.

Policies

1. Safety by Design. Incorporate "safety-by-design" standards in local zoning codes, building codes, master plans, and design review guidelines.
2. Design Features. Use safety-by-design standards to require adequate lighting, areas open to surveillance, window and porches along public streets, and safe pedestrian circulation systems.

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Communities organizing against crime send the signal that criminal activity will not be tolerated. [sign for program to "weed" out crime and "seed" positive activities]

3. Business District Patrols. Work with merchant associations and local development corporations to institute security patrols in neighborhood and regional business districts.
4. Police Presence. Continue collaboration between the police and community groups to ensure greater police presence in areas experiencing increased criminal activity, and consider such programs as those that allow officers to take patrol cars home for increased visibility in residential areas.
5. Technology. Increase the efficiency of policing through use of such technology as video surveillance cameras, GIS mapping and data systems, and improved access to such information from police vehicles.
6. Public Education. Expand programs to educate residents and businesses on safety precautions and crime deterrence, while providing information to counter inaccurate perceptions of crime levels in Cleveland’s neighborhoods and downtown.

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Encouraging mixed-use development in proximity to transit service can strengthen the competitiveness of urban neighborhoods. [RTA Waterfront Line station]

GOAL: Provide a variety of transportation options that serve residents of all income levels and that promote economic development while protecting the quality of life in neighborhoods

TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE

Issues

Cleveland is located at a nexus of the regional and national transportation network, where freeway, rail, airline and shipping routes converge. This extraordinary transportation access was largely responsible for Cleveland’s growth as a national center of economic activity.

On the local level, within the City itself, the rail lines branch off to serve local industry and the freeway system provides access to a system of roads that serve businesses and residents alike. Commuter rail lines complete the local transportation network, along with sidewalks for pedestrians and routes for bicyclists. Among the transportation issues facing Cleveland are the following.

• an aging network of roads and bridges in need of repair and replacement
• inadequate freeway access to industries, forcing truck traffic onto residential streets
• an automobile-dominated region that reduces use of public transit and leaves many transit-dependent individuals under-served
• insufficient opportunities for safe and convenient bicycle travel
• unfulfilled potential to create transit-oriented development districts
• the need for shipping to be balanced with needs for waterfront recreation
• maintaining Cleveland’s long-term viability for national and international air travel

Policies

1. Transit-Oriented Development. Target high-density development in proximity to transit stations and major bus stops in order to support public transit and strengthen the competitiveness of urban neighborhoods.
2. Mixed-Use Development. Encourage mixed-use development that reduces dependence on motorized vehicles to reach employment and shopping destinations.
3. Mass Transit. Support improved bus and rapid transit service, through public funding and employer incentives, to serve individuals who require or prefer mass transit and to reduce the pollution and roadway congestion caused by use of personal automobiles.

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The Citywide Plan advocates placing priority on the upgrading of existing infrastructure in the allocation of transportation and infrastructure funding. [Fulton Road Bridge over Big Creek valley]

4. Neighborhood Bus Service. Continue and expand RTA’s “Community Circulator” program, providing convenient bus service to residents using mass transit to reach such neighborhood destinations as shopping, recreation and medical services.

5. Transit Amenities. Upgrade the condition of bus shelters, transit stations, and transit vehicles, and provide improved information on schedules and routes.

6. Transit Line Extensions. Consider strategic extensions to existing mass transit lines where significant ridership increases are likely.

7. Bicycle Travel. Develop a citywide and regional network of safe bicycle routes, connecting to work, school, shopping and recreation destinations; and make bicycle accommodation a routine component of roadway and development projects.

8. Pedestrian Travel. Make Cleveland a national model for pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, featuring conveniently-located sidewalks and paths, benches, and streetside development patterns.

9. Maintenance of Existing Infrastructure. Work with regional, state and federal agencies to give priority to the maintenance of existing transportation infrastructure in the allocation of transportation funding.

10. Ports. Ensure Cleveland’s long-term viability as a hub for air- and water-based transportation, while reserving appropriately located land for waterfront recreation.

11. Regional Land Use Planning. Coordinate transportation and infrastructure planning with land use plans designed to limit the negative impacts of urban sprawl and promote more efficient use of existing infrastructure and community facilities.

12. Industrial Access. Develop roads that provide direct truck access between freeways and industrial areas, by-passing neighborhoods where truck traffic degrades the quality of life for residents.

13. Job Access. Provide transit service between central city neighborhoods and employment concentrations in the city and in outlying areas.

14. Traffic Calming. Institute “traffic-calming” measures in residential areas and neighborhood shopping districts where existing traffic volumes and speeds create safety hazards and unpleasant conditions for residents and shoppers.

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Local arts offerings reflect and represent the tremendous cultural and demographic diversity of the Cleveland community. [theatre production at Karamu House]

GOAL: Enrich the lives of Clevelanders and strengthen economic vitality by establishing Cleveland as a world-class center for the arts

ARTS & CULTURE

Issues

The City of Cleveland enjoys celebrated status in the realm of arts and culture. Cleveland is home to two truly world-class institutions in the Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Museum of Art, the nation’s second largest performing arts complex in the theaters of Playhouse Square, and a number of nationally recognized arts organizations including the Cleveland Institutes of Music and Art, the Cleveland Playhouse, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and the Tri-C Jazz Fest, among others. Cleveland also hosts several adventurous theaters and music ensembles, opera, dance, an expanding contemporary art gallery, and a growing number of venues for contemporary music.

Today, the arts have become increasingly important as a magnet for attracting people and businesses to regions across the nation. Cleveland has the opportunity to capitalize on its enviable cultural assets as catalysts for neighborhood regeneration and community-wide economic development – even beyond the estimated $1.3 billion current impact of the arts on the regional economy. One of Cleveland’s challenges in accomplishing this goal will be to find the resources needed to support the arts – maintaining the quality of the region’s most prominent institutions in the face of the region’s long-term relative decline in population, while supporting those emerging arts organizations and artists who are exploring new territory at the edges of the contemporary arts scene.

Policies

1. Arts and the New Economy. Support and market the arts as a magnet to attract creative and entrepreneurial individuals to the Cleveland region, thereby generating economic activity and jobs.
2. Arts Districts. Establish and market “arts districts” as an approach to revitalizing neighborhoods where galleries and other arts venues are concentrated.
3. Catalysts. Capitalize on the presence of theaters, museums and other major arts venues as catalysts for neighborhood and regional development.

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Public art can help "tell the story" of a place and add a new dimension to its image. [fence at Mill Creek waterfall]

4. Public Funding for the Arts. Create local mechanisms for permanent and predictable public funding for a diversity of arts endeavors in the Cleveland region, supplementing private and other governmental funding sources.
5. Public Art Programs. Strengthen the City of Cleveland's new public art program and work with other governments, developers and corporations to incorporate public art as a standard component of development projects throughout the city
6. Neighborhood Place-Making. Use public art to strengthen the "sense of place" and highlight the heritage and character of each Cleveland neighborhood
7. Live-Work Districts. Create supportive environments for local artists by establishing live-work districts, where obsolete industrial buildings are transformed into residences and studios through use of financial incentives and innovative zoning.
8. Accessibility. Ensure that the arts are accessible and affordable to residents of all neighborhoods, income levels and ages, including arts programming in the public schools and expanded publicity and outreach.
9. Cultural Diversity. Ensure that the arts in Cleveland fully reflect and represent the cultural and demographic diversity of the Cleveland community.

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The Citywide Plan promotes creation of renewable energy resources that take advantage of our natural assets and minimize negative environmental impacts. [wind turbine at the Great Lakes Science Center]

GOAL: Ensure the long-term environmental, economic and social viability of Cleveland and its region

SUSTAINABILITY

Issues

A "sustainable Cleveland" is a community that meets the needs of the present without compromising the future. Because past generations lacked the understanding and the capabilities to achieve this, today we must address the consequences of actions that have, in fact, compromised our "present." These consequences include, among others, contaminated brownfield sites, urban sprawl, over-dependence on the automobile, energy-wasting buildings, poor water quality, and unhealthy lifestyles associated with unhealthful development patterns.

Sustainability, however, requires even more than protection of our natural environment and our physical health. Just as important is the commitment to the minds of our children and all Clevelanders – providing them with the education that will enable them to adapt to ever-changing economic and social circumstances. In this sense, an educated community is a sustainable community, just as much as a healthy community is a sustainable community.

Policies

1. Sustainable Development Patterns. Create high-density, mixed-use districts that promote travel by transit, walking and bicycling.
2. Sustainable Neighborhoods. Develop "full life-cycle neighborhoods" that provide housing and services for residents of all ages and incomes, with a healthful living environment and convenient access to jobs, shopping and recreation.
3. Sustainable Economy. Ensure that economic development, job training and education in the Cleveland region keep pace with national trends and emerging opportunities in order to provide jobs for current and future residents.
4. Sustainable Development Practices. Ensure that land is used in a manner that preserves and expands valuable open space, protects natural habitats, retains and replaces trees, prevents environmental contamination, and protects sensitive lands.
5. High Performance/ Green Building. Amend building and zoning codes and add financial incentives to encourage high performance "green building" that conserves resources and creates more healthful living and working environments.

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“Greenbuilding” techniques can contribute to creating sustainable communities in Cleveland. [EcoVillage townhouses in Detroit-Shoreway]

6. Nonmotorized Travel. Design and develop safe routes for walking and bicycling, accessible to all residents, in order to reduce automobile dependency, improve health, and reduce the cost of travel.

7. Motorized Travel. Continue to upgrade current bus fleets with cleaner-burning vehicles and accelerate the replacement of vehicles in government and corporate fleets with more fuel-efficient and cleaner-burning vehicles.

8. Mass Transit. Increase use of mass transit through such initiatives as employer incentives, park-and-ride lots, and transit-oriented development projects.

9. Energy Conservation. Reduce use of energy and water in City facilities and vehicles and encourage similar practices by residents, businesses and other organizations.

10. Renewable Energy. Promote use of solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy resources.

11. Brownfield Remediation. Clean contaminated “brownfield” sites and promote beneficial re-use through regulatory action and increased funding to improve Cleveland’s environmental and economic health.

12. Recycling and Waste Management. Reduce waste disposal through municipal curbside recycling and programs for recycling tires, motor oil, yard waste, electronic equipment, demolition debris, and roadway materials, as well as by encouraging consumers to make choices that are less wasteful of resources.

13. Water Quality. Improve regional water quality by better managing stormwater runoff, strictly enforcing emission controls, reducing use of harmful lawn-care chemicals, restoring urban streams and rivers.

14. Air Quality. Improve regional air quality by strictly enforcing emission controls, increasing alternative energy production, and promoting use of mass transit, nonmotorized travel, and cleaner-powered vehicles.

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Formally designating structures or districts as "historic" is an important tool for preserving Cleveland's past.

GOAL: Foster preservation of historically and architecturally significant buildings and districts in the City of Cleveland

PRESERVATION

Issues

Tiring of cookie-cutter development that ends up making every street corner in America look like every other corner, with the same monotonous "fast food" style of architecture, Americans are increasingly drawn to places that have a distinctive character and ambiance. In Cleveland, it is the classic architecture of historic buildings that helps create this distinctive character. Cleveland's historic resources, however, are threatened every day by market forces, as well as by those who fail to recognize the true value of these irreplaceable assets.

Through its Landmarks Commission and through its use of the federal Section 106 requirements, Cleveland possesses the regulatory tools necessary to preserve its historic buildings and districts. Since its creation in 1973, the Commission has designated 22 local historic districts, 29 National Register historic districts, and 234 individual landmark buildings and structures. The real challenge facing Cleveland is how re-define the real estate market, educate property owners, and provide the financial incentives to ensure the economic viability of the community's landmark buildings.

Policies

1 Marketing. Capitalize on the presence of architecturally and historically significant buildings in promoting and marketing Cleveland's older neighborhoods as competitive places to live and visit

2 Economic Re-Use. Identify and pursue opportunities for economically viable re-use of significant structures threatened by neglect and possible demolition.

3 Design Standards. Establish design review standards that are effective and reasonable in protecting historic structures and in ensuring that new development is complementary to character of historic districts.

4 Designation. Protect historic buildings and districts through designation as local landmarks and through listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Some older buildings can be preserved by renovating them for new uses that capitalize on their unique features and character. [residential conversion of Tower Press Building at Superior and East 18th]

5 Education. Increase public awareness of the history and architecture of Cleveland and its neighborhoods, as well as the value of historic preservation.

6 Technical Assistance. Provide property owners with technical assistance in maintaining and rehabilitating historic buildings.

7 Preventative Maintenance. Adopt and enforce laws that require preventative maintenance of historic buildings and structures.

8 Funding. Retain and expand funding for historic preservation at all levels of government, including tax credits for rehabilitation.

POPULATION

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Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

POPULATION

OVERVIEW

Cleveland is the central city of the nation’s 15th most populous grouping of metropolitan areas—a seven-county region with a 2000 population of over 2.9 million. However, while the region’s overall population showed only very slow growth during the 1990s, the Cleveland metropolitan area saw a further decrease, as the decades-long trend known as “urban sprawl” continued. The city itself actually lost population at a slower rate during the 1990s than it had in previous decades, ending the century with 478,403 residents (2000 U.S. Census Bureau figure). As outward migration and development continue, it is Cleveland’s inner-ring suburbs that now find themselves facing many of the issues that the City has had to struggle with, including a declining population.

Major demographic patterns and trends, in addition to urban sprawl, that the city is grappling with include the following:

• Cleveland remains highly segregated.

• Cleveland profits little from international migration.

• Cleveland lacks a young, highly-educated population.

• Cleveland has a growing minority population, with a majority of its residents now members of minority groups.

• While Clevelanders’ incomes increased during the 1990s, the city’s workforce remains primarily low-wage.

• Cleveland has a relatively small number of married-couple households and a large number of single-parent and single-person households.

• Cleveland has a high ratio of children and seniors to wage earners.

• The State of Ohio and the region are expected to continue in a slow growth pattern.

Much of the information in this chapter comes from an analysis of the United States decennial census done by the Brookings Institution in a report entitled: “Cleveland in Focus: A Profile from Census 2000”. In the report, Cleveland is compared to 23 other large American cities, and a profile of Cleveland relative to those cities is presented.

TRENDS

Several trends emerge that give a clearer picture of the challenge before us, and may also suggest some areas of greatest vulnerability (or opportunity), where connections with appropriate community assets could be helpful. (Highlighted text refers to maps and charts with more detailed information located at the end of the chapter.)

• Population: Cleveland’s population has been declining since the 1950s. Thirty-two other U.S. cities are now larger than Cleveland, once the fifth largest city in America, though the pace of loss¹ slowed considerably in the 1990s. Cleveland’s Downtown², however, has performed well compared to downtowns in other cities.

In 2000 the United States Census Bureau listed the city’s population at 478,403. Cleveland’s population loss during the 1990s was 5.4% compared to a loss of 8.9% during the 1980s. The number of households has also declined, albeit at a slower pace than population, and stood at 190,638 in 2000. (See Graph.) Out-migration of residents is the principal reason for Cleveland’s population loss.

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Cuyahoga County has also started to see a decline in population. Despite a development pattern in which developed property (red areas on the maps below) covered over twice the land area in 2000 than it did in 1950, the county’s actual population in those two years was nearly identical. While there were 40% more households in Cuyahoga County by the end of that 50-year period (Household Trend)¹, the average number of household members had fallen from 3.1 to 2.39 for the county, and in the city of Cleveland, from 3.1 to 2.44.

Development Pattern – 1948 Development Pattern – 2002 Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County

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Source: Cuyahoga County Planning Commission

While the core of the metropolitan area continued to decline in population, the outer suburbs continued to expand². The four-county metropolitan statistical area that includes the city showed an increase of 1.4% or 25,000 people between 1990 and 2000. The pattern of population growth³ shows much of the city and inner suburbs declining in population with the growth occurring at the periphery of Cuyahoga County and in surrounding counties. Some census tracts in and around Downtown Cleveland, which had previously experienced severe population declines, have shown population increases as a result of new housing construction.

Because major employment centers such as Downtown, University Circle and industrial districts are located within the city of Cleveland, the number of people that actually work in the city—and thus require many services on a daily basis—is larger than its residential population. The Census Bureau estimates that the city’s daytime population increases to approximately 593,000 due to the influx of commuters to their jobs.

• Ethnicity and Race: Cleveland’s growth during the late 19th and early 20th centuries was fueled by immigrants who flocked to the city seeking jobs generated by the industrial revolution. Around the middle of the 20th century the number of immigrants entering the city, as was also the case with other cities across the country, decreased. But where many cities experienced a rise in immigration during the later 20th century, especially in terms of Hispanic and Asian immigrants, Cleveland did not see a dramatic increase in numbers. (Immigration Trend)¹. In fact in 2000 Cleveland had the lowest foreign-born population² among the targeted cities studied by the Brookings Institution. Even within the Cleveland area, many suburban communities can boast a higher foreign-born population than the city of Cleveland. Many new immigrants, when they enter the country, bypass the central city and move directly to the suburbs. In Cleveland most of the foreign-born are of European or Asian decent.³

Over the years an increasing percentage of the city’s population has been non-white. In 1990 just over half of Cleveland’s residents were non-whites. During the 1990s that number grew to 61.2 percent with the proportion of African-Americans and Hispanics increasing the most.⁴ The segregation of African Americans from whites and of African-Americans from Hispanics exceeds the averages for many large cities. Cleveland’s African-American population is concentrated on the east side⁵ of the city and in the near eastern suburbs. Hispanics are concentrated in the city’s west side⁶ neighborhoods.

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In 2000 over 50% of Cleveland’s population was African-American.

The city’s African-American population increased by 10,837 persons, from 235,405 in 1990 to 246,242 in 2000. This increase occurred primarily because births exceeded deaths by more than 26,000. There was a net out-migration of 15,329 African Americans during the decade, which partially offset the increase in population. Births among whites also exceeded the number of deaths by more than 9,300, but that coupled with a net out-migration of approximately 53,093 resulted in a decrease of 43,747 in the white population. At the neighborhood level¹, increases and decreases in net migration by race varied widely between 1990 and 2000. Some areas, like the Broadway and Collinwood neighborhoods, have seen a significant change in their racial makeup since 1990.

• Age Demographics: Cities in general tend to be younger places than the suburbs. The median age of Clevelanders in 2000 was 33 as compared to the median for Cuyahoga County of 37.3. Young children age 5 to 9 make up the city’s largest age group. Baby boomers and young adults also comprise a large segment of the population. These age cohorts² were also the only ones in which Cleveland saw an increase in population between 1990 and 2000. The composition of the city of Cleveland’s population by age is illustrated in the following population bell.

Cleveland – Population by Age Cohort, 2000

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Source: The Brookings Institution

High concentrations of persons under the age of 18¹ are found on the southeast, northeast and near west sides of the city. Individuals over the age of 65² are concentrated in the city’s inner suburbs and parts of the east side. Some 70 children and seniors are being supported by every 100 of Cleveland’s working-age adults—the second highest percentage of economically dependent population³ found among the 23 target cities looked at in the Brookings Institute study.

• Household Type: Compared to other cities,⁴ Cleveland has a relatively small married-couple family population and a large single-parent family population. The city also has a high percentage of single-person households. During the 1990s⁵ the city of Cleveland saw a drop in married-couple households while it showed a slight increase in other household types. During that same period the suburbs saw rapid growth in single-parent and single-person households. The suburbs showed a slight growth in married-couples without children but also lost population in married-couple-with-children households.

• Turnover: Cleveland has more long-term residents than many other cities. In 2000 only 16.1% of the city’s population had lived in a different city five years before (1995). Among the 23 cities targeted by the Brookings Institution study, Cleveland had the sixth lowest share of “new arrivals”.

• Education: The nation’s long-term transition to a service-oriented “knowledge” economy means that places with a critical mass of educated workers have a competitive advantage. In 2000 in Cleveland, almost 1 in 4 children lived in a family with no working parents.⁶ The percentage of Cleveland adults holding a bachelor’s degree⁷ is the fifth lowest among the nation’s 100 largest cities. The percentage is rising but is still below the average for the 23 cities compared in the Brookings study. The city of Cleveland also has the second smallest university student population⁸ among the 23 cities studied.

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Cleveland is behind many major cities in university population and the number of residents with bachelor degrees.

• Income: Cleveland's median household income in 2000 was $25,928, up 8.3% from its 1990 median income of $23,945. This was twice the national average increase of 4.0% but still left Cleveland ranked third lowest among the 100 largest cities¹ in the country. It was also just two-thirds of Cuyahoga County's median household income of $39,168. The national median income in 2000 was $41,994. Low-income households outnumber high-income households in the city by 5 to 1.²

• Poverty: The poverty rate in Cleveland declined somewhat during the 1990s, going from 28.7% in 1990 to 26.3% in 2000. However, the child poverty rate (38%), was found to exceed the city average in 2000, while the elderly poverty rate (16.8%) came in below the city average. The greatest concentration of poverty³ is found on the city's east and near west sides, where many of the city's Hispanic and African-American residents live. Not surprisingly, Cleveland had the second highest Hispanic and African-American poverty rates of the 23 target cities in the Brookings Study.

CHALLENGES

In light of the numbers and trends presented in foregoing section, Cleveland faces a number of challenges with respect to Population:

• Net Out-Migration of Residents: If population were solely determined by the ratio of births to deaths, Cleveland's population would be increasing. Given the city's relatively small senior population, as compared to its young person population, this same trend should continue into the future; but it is not expected to affect the bottom line. The city is losing population because more people are moving out than are moving in.

• Families and Married Couples Leaving the City: The city has, in particular, seen an exodus of married couples both with and without children. Improvement in the Cleveland Public Schools is clearly a critical factor for addressing this issue. The affordable housing offered by Cleveland, on the other hand, should be an asset for attracting this household type.

• Lack of New Immigrants Making the City Their Home: Historically, Cleveland has been the gateway into the United States for many immigrants, though the rate declined sharply during the last half of the 20th century. Other cities have seen a recent rise in immigrant populations, but Cleveland has lagged behind. The lack of new immigrants also has implications for the ethnic character and prosperity of the city.

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Cleveland has lagged behind other cities in attracting new immigrants. [Goodrich-Kirtland Park neighborhood]

• Segregated Racial Patterns: In some neighborhoods, integration has led to large shifts in racial composition. Such large shifts impact neighborhood stability.

• An Under-Educated Population: Compared to many other large cities, Cleveland comes up short both in working-age residents with an education and residents working on an education. More education usually translates into higher incomes, which in turn enables the City to provide an array of important services for all of its residents. Such Cleveland assets as the Cleveland Clinic, the institutions of University Circle and Cleveland State University could be better capitalized upon.

• Downtown’s Still Unrealized Potential: A residential population is key to a vibrant Downtown Cleveland, and a vibrant Downtown Cleveland would powerfully symbolize the vitality of the whole region. A residential base will also support accessory land uses such as retail that have tended in recent years to relocate away from the city center. Downtown Cleveland’s enormous potential is seen in the fact that it is one of the few areas in the city that has actually experienced population growth in the last decade. Entertainment venues such as Gateway and Playhouse Square, and natural features such as Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga Valley, constitute unique assets that can be built around.

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

With respect to population, the following policies should guide the City:

1. Migration. Stem net out-migration.

2. Families. Make the city attractive again to families.

3. Immigrants. Attract more immigrants.

4. Integration. Foster integrated neighborhoods.

5. Education. Increase the educated population.

6. Downtown. Continue Downtown's residential growth.

Access & Choices: Behind all of these policies is the recognition of the fact that, more than ever before, people can choose where they want to live. This is especially true of highly educated and creative persons of the sort that will be needed in great numbers between now and 2020 to drive the new economy, generate—and fill—the jobs of the 21st century, and make Cleveland competitive. Research has shown what attracts such people to an area. Things like

• Distinctive and interesting neighborhoods that offer an array of housing options—from large old homes with big lawns to modern condominiums with stunning urban or waterfront views to roomy apartment lofts in charming historic districts.

• Access to shopping and dining, entertainment, public transportation, recreational facilities, nature and other amenities.

• Access to first-rate educational, cultural and other opportunities, as well as to health care and state-of-the-art accommodations for older citizens and retirees.

• A community that is supportive of new businesses and new ideas, where people are free to express their individuality and diversity in people and lifestyles is valued.

The Need for Coordinated Thinking: Thus, decisions made over the next 15 years in such subject areas as Housing or Transportation & Transit, or in neighborhoods around the city, by developers and others will affect Cleveland's ability to stem

outward migration, stabilize the city’s population, and attract additional people with skills and ideas critical to its future competitiveness. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan therefore proposes a broad range of land use and development policy recommendations—and identifies opportunities for new development—that are intended to increase choice and access and improve the quality of life in the city of Cleveland.

Policies and strategies that deal with citywide issues are presented in the chapters on Housing, Retail, Economic Development, Recreation and Open Space, Sustainability, Arts and Culture, Education and Community Services, Transportation and Transit, Safety and Preservation.

Goals and strategies and opportunities for development that are more specific to individual Cleveland neighborhoods are found in the District Chapters, one chapter for each of the city’s six planning districts.

ADDITIONAL MAPS AND CHARTS

1. Pace of Loss

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2. Cleveland’s Downtown Population

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3. Household Trend

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4. Suburbs Continue to Expand

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Population - 12

Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

5. Pattern of Population Growth

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6. Immigration Trend

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7. Lowest Foreign-Born Population

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Source: The Brookings Institution

8. European and Asian Descent

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Source: The Brookings Institution

9. Proportion of African-Americans and Hispanics Increasing the Most

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10. African-American Concentrated on the East Side

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11. Hispanics Concentrated on the City’s West Side

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12. Migration – Neighborhood Level

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13. Age Cohorts

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Source: The Brookings Institution

14. Under the Age of 18

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Source: DataPlace

Population – 17 Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

15. Over the Age 65

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16. Economically Dependent Population

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*The dependency ratio represents the number of children and seniors for every 100 adults age 18 to 64.

Population – 18 Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

17. Household Type

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18. Household Type – Cleveland vs. Suburbs

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Population – 19 | Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

19. No Working Parents

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Source: The Brookings Institution

20. Bachelor Degrees

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Source: The Brookings Institution

21. University Student Population

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22. Household Income

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23. Income Quintiles

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24. Poverty

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Population – 22

Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

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Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

HOUSING

HOUSING

OVERVIEW

Cleveland is a city full of older homes with unique architectural styles not typically found in newer homes, much of which was built in the early 1900s. Many of the homes were built in close proximity to factories, giving residents access to available jobs. As advancement in transportation grew, the more affluent residents began to move further out, abandoning the housing in the central city. As people began to move from the inner city to the suburbs, the quality of housing began to decline. Many of the houses were converted to two-family and multi-family homes to accommodate the new immigrants that were moving to the area. These new immigrants developed several different, and unique, ethnic neighborhoods in the city. Cleveland’s industrial boom began to attract a great number of African Americans from the south looking for employment opportunities. As the African American population grew, racial tensions greatly increased, and many of those who could afford it moved out to the suburbs. As a result the number of homes that were either rented out or abandoned increased.

The Urban Renewal (Housing Act of 1949) and the development of the highway system (Federal Highway Act of 1956) displaced many residents, and contributed to large concentrations of poverty in many neighborhoods on the east side. Redlining and white-flight had a significant impact on the ability of homeowners to maintain their property. As a result, the quality and value of housing began to decline and people moved out at alarming rates, which caused a decrease in the city’s tax base.

During the 1990s Cleveland was able to utilize the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to get banks to invest in the City’s revitalization efforts. Residents in areas that were once redlined by banks could now receive loans for home improvement or for the purchase of new homes. By 2002 Cleveland had risen to number one in new housing starts in Cuyahoga County.

As we look to the future, we should focus not just on the number of housing units constructed, but also on the quality and type of housing in order to offer residents a greater variety of housing options so that Cleveland becomes a "community of choice". Income and lifestyle are critical factors when it comes to deciding where one is going to live. By using some of the assets we currently have, we can begin to create options for people of all ages, incomes, and lifestyles. There is tremendous opportunity for residential development in areas where retail and industry are no longer viable, particularly along many of our main streets. In some cases vacant buildings can be converted from another use (factory, school) to housing, as has been done for example, with the upscale lakefront condos now known as Quay 55 (a former automobile storage facility) and Famicos (formerly a women’s college). We must focus on creating sustainable neighborhoods that are safe and have access to basic services, shopping, and

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Quay 55, a former car warehouse, is an example of how vacant commercial and industrial buildings can be adaptively renovated as housing. [Lakefront – Goodrich-Kirtland Park]

opportunities for recreation to address the needs and desires of all residents.

TRENDS

Some interesting trends emerge from a study of census data that give a clearer picture of the challenges faced by the city of Cleveland in the area of Housing:

• Household Size: The average household size in Cleveland is 2.4 persons per household. Single-person households account for just 29% of Cleveland’s owner-occupied units and 41% of the renter-occupied units; whereas 2-to-4 person households account for 60% of the city’s owner-occupied units and 48% of renter-occupied units.

• Resident Tenure: The decade ending in 2000 saw a decline in the total number of occupied units (both rental and owner-occupied). However, the percentage of occupied units owned by the people who were living in them increased from 48% to 49%. This is still low by suburban standards (where 70% of total housing units are owner-occupied).

• Age of Residents: As the "Baby Boomers" reach 65, housing that serves the needs of seniors will need to grow proportionately if Cleveland wants to hold on to a significant segment of its population. Within the next 10 years almost 10% of the city's residents will be entering their senior years. The development of new senior housing here will allow these residents to remain in their communities and close to their relatives.

• Housing Units: The total number of housing units available in the city of Cleveland decreased by 4% between 1990 (224,361) and 2000 (215,856). The largest drop was in Central, one of the oldest and poorest neighborhoods in the city, where available units fell by 32%. Many of the housing units in this neighborhood were in such poor condition they needed to be demolished; the good news is that this made room for new housing development. It was the downtown area, however, that saw the biggest increase in available housing (up 48%), as part a strategic effort to make downtown more vibrant.

• Vacancy Rate: Although the vacancy rate in Cleveland rose only slightly between 1990 and 2000, from 11% to 12%, it is much higher than the 5% vacancy rate reported by the suburbs at the end of the same period. The Central and Riverside areas saw the largest drop in vacancies in the city due to the large number of demolitions, while Lee Miles and Downtown saw a significant increase in vacancies. Many of the new Downtown housing units, however, were just built and had not yet been occupied by the time the 2000 Census was taken.

• Housing Value: According to the 2000 Census, the median housing value of owner-occupied units in the city was $71,000 as compared to $128,000 in the suburbs. The neighborhoods closer to the border of the city have higher median values than the neighborhoods closer to the central city. The near east side neighborhoods (with the exception of Central, which had a high number of demolitions) have the lowest median value, ranging between $32,000 and $55,000. Downtown and Kamm's Corners claimed the highest median value, ranging between $100,001 and $145,833.

• Affordability: The affordability of housing in the city of Cleveland remained constant between 1990 and 2000. Relative to median family income, housing within the city is slightly less affordable in comparison to that in the county's suburbs. Residents in the city

of Cleveland have a median family income that is 62% greater than the median price of housing, while the suburban residents have a median income that is 78% greater than the median price of housing.

• Residential Building Conditions: Housing located closer to the central and near east side of Cleveland is in the poorest condition. The housing in neighborhoods along the border of the city is mostly rated above average; but a disturbing 42% of the units in Cleveland are rated below average by the County Auditor's office—as compared to 5% of the housing in the suburbs.

• Age of Housing Stock: The city of Cleveland has the oldest housing stock in Cuyahoga County. According to the County Auditor's records, the median year to which residential structures date in Cleveland is 1920, as compared to the suburban median (1955). The oldest housing in the city is found in the neighborhoods immediately adjacent to Downtown, while the newest is located in Downtown Cleveland itself and in the neighborhoods that lie closer to the city's suburban borders.

Sources: US Census, Cuyahoga County Auditor, The Center for Community Solutions, Case Western Reserve University

ASSETS

Cleveland has a number of important assets in the area of Housing that can be built upon. These include:

Citirama: An annual event inaugurated in 2003 by the Homebuilders Association of Great Cleveland (HBA) that encourages developers who might not otherwise have considered it to build in the city. The goal is to hold an annual Citirama event in each of Cleveland’s 36 neighborhoods promoting the urban lifestyle, the special character and advantages offered by each neighborhood, and the many housing options now available. and Unlike many of the newer “cookie cutter” developments, the homes built for Citirama have different architects, which offer a variety of housing styles that complement the neighborhood, including many energy-efficient/environmentally friendly “green” ideas.

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Cityrama 2004 in Glenville neighborhood offers diverse architectural styles, while maintaining the unique character of the neighborhood.

Historically Significant Housing: Many of the older homes in Cleveland were built with high quality building materials and beautiful historic architectural detail. The type of architecture and decorative elements in these older homes are not typically seen in more modern housing.

Ethnic Neighborhoods: Cleveland’s neighborhoods historically were defined by the many different ethnic groups that migrated here from other countries in the late 1800s and early 1900s. One of the remaining ethnic neighborhoods is Little Italy, which is located at the southern edge of University Circle. Many of the descendants of the immigrants continue to reside in the city. There has been a recent influx of Hispanic and Asian immigrants. Many of the latter reside in the

Goodrich/Kirtland Park neighborhood, while the majority of the Hispanic immigrants have settled on the near west side.

Proximity to Cultural Institutions and Entertainment Districts: The city of Cleveland has unique cultural, historic and entertainment districts that could not be duplicated. These cultural assets are located within residential communities such as Tremont, University Circle, Buckeye-Shaker, North Collinwood, and the new Downtown residential areas.

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Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra, is an example of a cultural amenity which makes Cleveland neighborhoods unique.

Financial incentives: As a way of encouraging housing development and home repair, the City of Cleveland has developed many programs offering financial assistance or incentives including help with arranging second mortgages, property tax abatement, low interest loans, grants, and rebates. (See Community Development Department Web Site: http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us/government/departments/commdev/cdind.html.)

Land Bank Program: The City acquires vacant and abandoned property which it then resells to developers at a low cost. This program encourages the redevelopment of vacant land and assists in the elimination of blight and crime throughout the city.

Conveniently Located to Shopping and Transit: Neighborhoods such as Shaker Square, University Circle and Ohio City offer residents access to a variety of amenities and a range of transportation options that make a neighborhood a convenient and pleasant place to live. These neighborhoods are also pedestrian-friendly places that foster a sense of community and the development of a sustainable environment.

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The Shaker Square Historic District is a great example of transit-oriented development.

CHALLENGES

Cleveland faces a number of specific challenges in the area of Housing that must be addressed:

• Housing Conditions: The aging housing stock coupled with low-income households and owner disinvestment has contributed greatly to the declining condition of many of the homes in Cleveland. Repairing older homes that have been neglected for an extensive period of time can be costly. In most cases homeowners need financial assistance to make necessary repairs. Vacant and abandoned homes are a sign of decline in a community, and send that message to prospective homebuyers. One or two boarded up houses on a street can make the entire street appear to be blighted. Vacant homes tend to attract criminal

activity. “The US Fire Administration reports that more than 12,000 fires in vacant structures are reported each year in the US, resulting in $73 million in property damage annually. More than 70% of fires in vacant or abandoned buildings are the result of arson or suspected arson.”¹ Due to the age of much of Cleveland’s housing stock, the presence of lead-based paint is a major concern. Of the 126,784 housing structures existing in Cleveland as of the year 2000, according to the County Auditor’s data, 123,485 were built prior to 1978, the year the federal government banned the use of lead- based paint. Elevated levels of lead were found in 26.8% of the children whose blood was tested between 1997 and 2000. The elimination of lead-based paint can be rather expensive and in some cases cost- prohibitive; but the effects of lead-based paint on the physical and mental development of children can be devastating.

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Vacant houses, such as this one on Benham Avenue, can negate other positive neighborhood improvements, like the nearby renovation of Carol McClendon Park

• Code Enforcement: Building code enforcement is a major concern of many Cleveland residents, but it is difficult to enforce the code on residents that do not have the financial means to make necessary repairs.

• Absentee Landlords: Too often absentee landlords do not maintain their properties, contributing to a decrease in property value. Experience has shown those that do not live in close proximity to their property typically are not concerned with maintenance issues, and when made aware of them do everything possible to avoid making necessary repairs.

• Affordability: The lack of affordable housing can lead to overcrowding, lost utilities, lack of home maintenance, homelessness, or sacrificing other necessities such as food or medication. Many of the City’s housing assistance programs are funded through CDBG (federal block grant) funds. With the recent cuts in CDGB funding, Cleveland will have to find other means to assist its residents.

• Predatory Lenders: Many residents in low-income neighborhoods are taken advantage of by so-called predatory lenders, people or organizations that prey on the poor and the desire of many families with limited means or poor credit records to own a home. These loans are often characterized by higher-than-normal interest rates, penalties for early payoff, and/or “balloon” payments (the ability to make minimal payments, deferring the rest until some far-off date—which unfortunately one day rolls around). Predatory lenders typically prey on low-income minority communities where prime lending institutions do not exist. When residents cannot make the payments it often leads to foreclosure. The City of Cleveland has begun to address this issue by adding to the City’s housing law a codified ordinance addressing predatory lending (Chapter 659).

• Foreclosures: A mortgage foreclosure not only result in the eviction of an individual or family who may have no other place to go, contributing to the instability of the neighbor and local economy, it is likely to leave a property in limbo for an extended period of time,

increasing the number of vacant and abandoned houses. The City loses tax revenue and the home becomes a potential breeding ground for crime and blight. Over the past decade, the number of foreclosures in Cuyahoga County has significantly increased. According to a study done in August of 2005 by Cuyahoga County, there were 2,582 foreclosures in 1995; it was estimated that by the end of 2005, however, the number of foreclosures initiated that year would top 12,000, with the highest percentage occurring in the city of Cleveland. According to an article in the Plain Dealer, HUD reported that Cleveland had a default rate of 12.46% for FHA loans, the second highest default rate in the country.¹

• Disreputable Contractors: Finding an honest skilled contractor can be a challenge for residents who want to build or rehab their home. Many residents have been taken advantage of by contractors who charge them for work that is either incomplete or not done according to code. In addition to being out the money paid to the contractor, the residents may incur fines and be served violation notices, which places an undue burden on them and may further impede their ability to improve the condition of their property.

• Providing Transitional Housing or Group Homes—the NIMBY syndrome: There is a need for transitional housing in every community throughout the city. It can be difficult to find a location for housing for residents with special needs or those that seek to transition back into society after incarceration or homelessness (an estimated 16,000-plus individuals per year in Cuyahoga County). Many of those former prisoners being released back into the community are returning to the city of Cleveland. Many people do not want these transitional homes located in their neighborhood because they fear the residents will present an element of danger to their community; yet this type of housing is sorely needed and we must find a way to integrate it into the city.

• Land Assembly: Assembling land for large-scale housing projects can be a challenge due to the number of different property owners that must be contacted and dealt with to assemble a sufficient number of adjacent lots. Areas once used for industrial or commercial purposes may be easier to appropriate, but they are usually not zoned for residential use, and remediation of polluted sites can be an expensive proposition.

• Making Housing in Cleveland Competitive: If Cleveland is to be competitive in the housing market, it must be able to offer a variety of housing options. These days, people are often looking for a certain type of housing that will meet the needs of their particular lifestyle. Seniors, for example, typically seek housing that will allow them to be mobile and independent. Having everything on one level can be critical for some seniors. Senior apartment buildings should be built no higher than three stories or levels, in any case; and senior housing should be located within walking distance of necessary amenities

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Beacon Place: new townhouse development along Euclid Avenue increases the variety of housing options in the Fairfax neighborhood

Housing - 6

Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

such as grocery stores, drug stores, recreation, worship, and if possible libraries and community centers, and transportation, making it easier for them to get around on their own. Young, single professionals are typically looking for affordable for sale homes or rental units located in a safe area that offer a variety of shopping and entertainment amenities. Cleveland is in a position to offer just such housing in areas now designated for mixed-use, where there is access to housing—in the form of converted period buildings, above-street-level apartments over storefront businesses, lofts with dramatic urban views, or even combination live-work spaces—as well as to shopping and transportation. Like seniors and young singles, empty-nesters typically do not want to have to deal with maintaining a yard and therefore will be more likely to opt for a house with a small yard or an apartment or condominium. Families with children, on the other hand, may want to be in a neighborhood that offers larger lot sizes, to allow their children room to play, and homes with sufficient space to accommodate each member of the family.

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

The overarching goal is to provide new and renovated housing that meets the needs and preferences of Clevelanders of all incomes, ages and lifestyles. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Plan therefore puts forth a comprehensive set of policies relating to Housing citywide, each addressing a key issue—along with strategies through which we might take immediate steps toward implementing those policies:

1) Decent and Affordable Housing. Give highest priority among the City’s housing initiatives to the provision of decent and affordable housing for all Clevelanders.

a. Preserve and fully utilize the existing inventory of housing units with project-based rent subsidies for low income tenants.

b. Increase the availability of high quality, below market-rate rental housing by maximizing the use of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the Ohio Housing Trust Fund, Tax Exempt Bonds and the HOME Program.

c. Utilize tax abatement to make newly built or rehabilitated, affordable housing available at the lowest sustainable rent.

d. Promote the development of active tenant organizations to work with management in buildings with project-based rent subsidies to assure continued housing quality and affordability.

e. Assure maximum utilization of available tenant-based rent subsidies to make housing affordable to low income families and individuals.

f. Make homeownership financially feasible for additional households in stable, regional choice and other neighborhoods with specific reinvestment plans.

g. Educate homebuyers on what is involved in financing and owning a home to increase their capacity to maintain and retain the home after purchase.

2) Alternative Housing. Attract residents seeking an urban lifestyle by offering alternative housing types, including townhouses, condominiums, live-work spaces, and converted commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.

a. Convert vacant commercial and mixed use buildings into housing where other

amenities are developed to create lifestyle centers.

b. Where a market exists, build townhouses along main streets where there is vacant land, demolish deteriorated commercial structures as needed and implement a property holding and maintenance program that makes land held for future use a community asset.

3) Competitive Places. Create and preserve neighborhoods that are competitive urban places, characterized by mixed-use development, pedestrian-friendly design and transit access.

a. Increase the number of high-density residential and mixed-use developments near transit facilities.

b. Utilize Pedestrian Retail Overlay zoning to ensure that developments are pedestrian-friendly.

c. Locate new housing near greenways increasing the opportunity for alternative means of transportation.

4) Housing Choice. Provide a diversity of housing types in neighborhoods throughout the city, maximizing choices for residents of all incomes, ages, ability levels and social circumstances.

a. Create more mixed-income communities.

b. Assess the need for various types of housing in each neighborhood to determine what type of housing should be developed and develop a strategy for each neighborhood that markets or re-brands that community to compete for the identified market.

c. Limit financial incentives to developments that demonstrate a new market for housing within each neighborhood or increases the affordability of such housing for low and moderate income families.

d. Promote and encourage the use of universal design standards for all newly constructed housing.

e. Ensure compliance with requirements concerning the creation of accessible units for all new construction or substantial rehabilitation housing development being assisted with CDBG, HOME or other federal funds.

5) Code Enforcement. Target residential code enforcement in a manner that helps stabilize neighborhoods without causing undue hardships for low-income households.

a. Provide training and resources that will allow homeowners to carry out more of their own maintenance and repair work.

b. Offer a program that will help residents with financial constraints to prepare a budget that will help them to maintain their home.

c. Develop a marketing strategy to promote existing home maintenance programs.

d. Utilize neighborhood associations or other community organizations to organize volunteers to help correct code violations. (See, for example, http://www.rebuildingtogether.org/)

e. Encourage the use of home repair loan programs that offer financing at discounted rates before using publicly funded loan and grant products to allow low and moderate income residents to meet their home repair needs.

f. Reduce housing operating costs through weatherization assistance and energy efficient building techniques, thereby allowing more money to be available for home maintenance.

g. Target vacant structures for code enforcement.

h. Use rental registration program to assure that landlords maintain buildings to code.

6. Housing Development Incentives. Ensure that financial incentives for housing development are the minimum necessary to be effective, and do not result in undue losses of revenue for City services or the public schools.

a. Reexamine the tax abatement program to determine its effectiveness. Look at changes that can be made to the policy that will sustain gains made in recent years, while increasing the revenue for the City and the public schools.

7. Rehabilitation. Give priority to housing rehabilitation as the most effective means of making affordable housing available to the greatest number of residents.

a. Undertake rehabilitation in areas adjacent to catalytic development projects or in areas where residential new construction occurred to maximize the investment of public dollars.

b. Work with non-profit and philanthropic organizations to create a prototype for redesign of obsolete residential structures common in the city including the Cleveland double, small multi-family buildings, and modest bungalows.

c. Redirect federal funds to concentrate a larger portion of those resources on rehabilitation of vacant and abandoned property in areas with a specific redevelopment plan.

8. Land Assembly. Promote housing development through strategic, proactive land assembly.

a. Work with CDCs, developers, market analysts and the community to identify acquisition strategies for priority areas for development of housing.

b. Rezone areas to residential that are no longer appropriate for other uses.

c. Remediate brownfield sites suitable for housing.

d. Develop property maintenance capacity and standards for holding property until it can be reused at its highest and best use.

9. Homelessness. Address homelessness through a multi-faceted strategy that includes emergency shelters, permanent supportive housing, medical and social services, and job training.

a. Assure that everyone with an emergency need for shelter has access to shelter.

b. Utilize street outreach workers to seek out those homeless persons living outside the shelter system.

c. Encourage all homeless service providers and funders to adopt a housing first policy which seeks to minimize shelter stays and stabilize individuals and families as soon as feasible within permanent housing linked to supportive services as needed.

d. Continue to support the production of permanent supportive housing units that can offer the opportunity for long-term homeless persons to leave the shelter system.

e. Within the shelter system, provide immediate assessment and linkages to case management and mainstream social services, including agencies providing mental health care, substance abuse treatment, medical services and assistance to veterans.

f. Work with the criminal justice system to strengthen the support for the reentry into the community of person returning from incarceration.

g. Expand resources for and educate residents about programs providing assistance in preventing the loss of housing through eviction or foreclosure.

10. Senior Housing. Develop housing for senior citizens in proximity to shopping, medical facilities, social services, and public transportation to support their ability to remain independent.

a. Support development of senior housing that allows for and accommodates multigenerational families with designs that meet this need.

b. Incorporate green space into new senior housing developments.

c. Support development of senior housing that is located near transportation, shopping and medical services.

d. Design housing that permits for ADA adaptation should future disabilities dictate.

11. Design. Ensure that the design of new and renovated houses complements the character of the surrounding neighborhood, through a design review process that is effective, expeditious and equitable.

a. Develop housing design guidelines for new housing development with supplemental guidelines for specific areas that will give developers direction prior to meeting with the design review committee.

b. Develop housing rehabilitation guidelines for minimum standards for the size of kitchens and bathrooms where significant "gut" rehab is being done.

12. Neighborhood Plans. Locate infill houses where neighborhood plans ensure a supportive environment for residential development.

a. Limit the distribution of land bank properties for infill housing to areas that have a redevelopment plan in place.

b. Utilize CDCs and other community agencies to acquire, renovate/reuse, and market vacant structures and vacant land in areas where plans have been developed.

13. Green Building. Encourage use of "green building" principles in new and renovated housing.

a. Development a zoning code that encourages green building and requires the use of green building techniques where the cost of the project is not significantly increased.

b. Offer financial incentives such as low-interest loans or tax abatement to projects that use green building techniques.

14. Housing Accessibility. Expand the range of residential opportunities for persons with special housing needs.

a. Promote and encourage the use of universal design standards for all newly constructed housing. b. Ensure compliance with requirements concerning the creation of accessible units for all new construction or substantial rehabilitation housing development being assisted with CDBG, HOME or other federal funds.

Specific identified opportunities relating to housing are listed in the Development Opportunities section of the Citywide Plan website.

References

1. "Vacant Properties: The True Costs to Communities," National Vacant Properties Campaign, August 2005 (http://www.vacantproperties.org/)
2. Murray, Teresa Dixon, "Defaults blamed on Shady Lending," The Plain Dealer, July 7, 2005.

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Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

RETAIL

RETAIL DEVELOPMENT

OVERVIEW

As a mature city, Cleveland faces many challenges in maintaining stable neighborhoods. One of those challenges is providing city neighborhoods with a full array of high quality shopping services. This has become increasingly difficult as the consumer base has spread outward (with retailers in hot pursuit), not only into suburban Cuyahoga County, but into the five-county metropolitan area that includes Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties. This thinning of the populace that once supported a host of neighborhood stores has, in turn, led to an inevitable erosion of shopping opportunities within the city. The result has been that many of the residents who have remained in Cleveland, particularly those in the outer fringe neighborhoods, are ironically now forced to travel to suburban and exurban areas even for basic goods and services.

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The Gordon Square Arcade in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood typifies Cleveland’s streetcar-style retail architecture. [Gordon Square Arcade]

Unlike many of the newer suburban communities, however, where the nearest shopping center frequently sits on an isolated outlying site accessible only by automobile, the neighborhood shopping district in Cleveland is seen as integral to the life—and viability—of the local community. Indeed, most of these retail districts, which tend to be linear in shape, date from the streetcar era of the 1910s and 1920s, before the automobile had become affordable to the masses, when most residents rode mass transit to and from work and other daily activities. At the end of the day, when they got off at their stop, they would patronize locally owned stores that were but a short walk from their homes. Major thoroughfares like Lorain and Detroit Avenues on the west side and St. Clair and Kinsman Avenues on the east are still lined with the remnants of this type of retail.

In other cases, the integration of shopping into the neighborhood has been the result of a planning policy that places a value on the creation and preservation of an urban "sense of place" and endorses the concept that a vibrant retail district adds to the quality of life in the surrounding neighborhood. The presence of a variety of retailers offering a wide array of goods can be a deciding factor when families or individuals are looking for an area in which to rent an apartment or purchase a home. Being able to walk, bike or drive to a conveniently located retail node is, for many, the critical piece of an urban lifestyle and affords an option unavailable in most suburban areas. The Kamm’s Corners and Lee-Harvard

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Sidewalk cafes add color, vitality and energy to traditional neighborhood retail areas [Shaker Square outdoor cafe]

retail districts, revitalized in the 1990s through the reconstruction of their main shopping plazas, are examples of this type of deliberate retail planning.

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan takes the “sense of place” concept one step further. The Plan is predicated on the concept that a retail district can be much more than just a place to shop for the necessities of life. Rather, it views retail districts as places of “connection” in a neighborhood—lively, bustling forums where people gather to shop, dine, meet, converse and have a good time. A retail district can be a “town center” that gives a neighborhood its special character and identity; a retail district can also be seen as a generator of jobs and entrepreneurship that contributes to the economic health of a neighborhood and generates tax revenues to provide public services.

TRENDS

Several trends have been identified that give a clearer picture of the challenge before us, and may also suggest some areas of greatest vulnerability (or opportunity), where connections with appropriate community assets could be helpful:

• Rise and Growth of E-Commerce: Since the mid-1990s, as use of the Internet has become widespread, there has been a corresponding rise in online shopping by consumers. No longer is it necessary to travel to a retail outlet to view products as diverse as clothing, books, household goods or electronics. Both entrepreneurs and traditional retailers have developed Web sites that offer the opportunity for comparison shopping, wide selection and the convenience of payment by credit card. The growth of shippers like Fed Ex, DHL and UPS has, in turn, made it possible to receive goods ordered online with next day service. This combination of factors has resulted in predictions that U.S. e-commerce will grow at a 19 % compound annual growth rate over the next decade. Continued growth in this segment of the retail economy could have a profound impact on traditional retailers who may as a result no longer need the number of retail outlets previously envisioned. E-commerce, with its low overhead and 24-hour cyberspace presence represents a real and growing threat to traditional store-based retailing, which in turn, impacts the prospects for additional neighborhood retail.

• “Big Box” Convenience: Over the past decade, consumers have become accustomed to patronizing stores that provide one-stop shopping opportunities. So-called “big box” stores of 100,000-plus square feet featuring groceries, clothing and general merchandise, as well as video rentals, banking and car repair services, have proliferated across the country and in Ohio. Local examples include national retailers Wal-Mart, Target, Super Kmart and the super-sized supermarkets offered by regional chains like Giant Eagle and Topps. These stores, while they have been slow to enter the city of Cleveland, are turning

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Cityview Center in suburban Garfield Heights combines big box retail in a power center setting. [Cityview Center, Garfield Heights]

up in growing numbers along its periphery in suburbs such as Fairview Park, Brooklyn, Garfield Heights and Cleveland Heights.

• Power Center Retailing: Concurrent with the rise of big box stores has been the growth of the “power center”, which typically features three or more big box stores interspersed with mid-sized and smaller stores within a strip or on adjoining outlots. Power centers range in size from 400,000 square feet to as much as 1-million square feet and typically include anchor stores such as warehouse clubs, discount department stores and stores featuring consumer electronics, home improvement and off-price clothing. The main impact of power centers has been on older strip shopping centers, which have seen many of their major tenants relocate to the newer power centers to feed off the customer draw of the big box anchors. The Steelyard Commons Shopping Center, due to open in April 2007 adjacent to the Tremont neighborhood, will become Cleveland’s first example of this type of retail offering.

• Retailers’ Anti-Urban Bias: Since the 1960s and 1970s, large parts of Cleveland’s inner-ring neighborhoods have been effectively abandoned by the retail industry. The city itself hasn’t fared much better, as it suffers from a lack of grocery, discount department and consumer electronic stores. As a result, many residents are forced to travel long distances to shop in nearby suburban areas. Analysts attribute these conditions to perceptions by retailers and retail developers that city markets are less attractive than suburban venues. These include a shrinking population, undesirable demographics, safety concerns, a shortage, on the one hand, of buildings of sufficient size and, on the other, difficulties with land assembly, and the quality and dependability of the work force. The first two concerns involve perceptions that can be addressed by local community development corporations; the last three, issues that only local government can rectify.

• Demise of Locally-Owned Retailers: The coming of national big box chain retailers to Northeast Ohio has brought with it a corresponding decline in the number of locally owned businesses Clevelanders can patronize. Specialty retailers offering everything from hardware or appliances to men’s or women’s clothing have found it difficult to compete with the buying power and discount pricing that the Home Depots, Best Buys and Targets of the world can offer. This change in buying habits has, in turn, had a profound effect on the city’s traditional retail streets (e.g., Lorain, St. Clair and Broadway Avenues), which have seen growing numbers of vacant storefronts as neighborhood-based retailers have gone out of business.

These trends, at first glance, paint a rather bleak picture; but they are not the whole picture. Cleveland also has some significant strengths that must also be taken into consideration; these include a number of innovative programs and newly enacted zoning provisions that are yielding very promising results. As in other areas of city life, it is important to look, not only at the problems, but also at what tools can be utilized to effectuate positive changes.

ASSETS

Cleveland has a number of strong assets in the area of Retail Development that can be built upon. Among Cleveland’s hidden (or newly innovated) strengths are:

Strong Retail Consumer Base: The income, buying power and retail spending of city residents have long been thought incapable of supporting quality retail; Census figures, traditionally the major source for this kind of information, are often cited to support this assumption. Critics of this view, however, have questioned the reliability of these figures, which are largely gleaned from poverty and unemployment records, contending that the numbers dramatically understate the true health of the urban economy. Nevertheless, widespread beliefs regarding urban buying power has shaped the quality of goods and services found in many of the city’s newer retail developments, which are not on a par with those found in nearby suburbs.

The Census figures, in any case, tell only part of the story. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Plan argues that other evidence suggests many national and local retailers are underestimating the buying power in Cleveland. The fact is that many city residents habitually travel to outlying suburban malls to enjoy a selection of merchandise that is not available to them in their own neighborhoods, while residents of the city’s so-called “edge” neighborhoods such as Collinwood or Kamm’s Corners admit they regularly slip “over the border” into Euclid or Rocky River to do their shopping. The 2020 Plan therefore advocates a policy to increase the quality of locally available retail to meet, not just the basic needs, but the expectations and wants, of city neighborhood residents. It is this realization, and strategy, that helped lay the groundwork for the Steelyard Commons project.

Architecturally Significant Retail Districts: The architectural styles of commercial structures in Cleveland’s retail districts are often charming reminders of the era in which they were constructed. Many were built in the 1910s and 1920s during Cleveland’s streetcar heyday. Unlike many latter retail buildings, which are characterized by a setback, usually to accommodate a parking lot, these pre-automobile culture structures were typically built right up to the street right-of-way line, that is, the edge of the sidewalk. This vintage urban feature, when combined with modern transit accessibility and above-street-level housing, gives Cleveland’s retail districts a pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use character—and, in an era that once again values “walkable”,

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The commercial buildings along West 25th Street in Ohio City create a pedestrian-friendly retail environment. [West 25th Street]

largely self-sufficient neighborhoods, gives these areas a competitive edge over many nearby suburban retail centers. Ironically, the latest “cutting-edge” suburban retail developments such as Westlake’s Crocker Park and Lyndhurst’s Legacy Village are attempts to recapture the look and feel of these older urban districts through their “new urbanist” designs. Cleveland, on the other hand, has the real thing; and the Connecting Cleveland 2020 Plan proposes to re-establish the competitiveness of these special places.

Specialized Retail Districts: Many of Cleveland’s retail districts have embraced the notion of “specialization” or “niche marketing.” Retail districts, for example, that would ordinarily attract

only local shoppers have been transformed into regional attractions by offering a specialized clustering of goods and services not commonly found in a single location. In Cleveland, this specialization can take many forms, including:

1. “ethnic-themed” retail districts that capitalize on the diversity of population in city’s neighborhoods like Little Italy and Chinatown;
2. “arts and culture” retail districts that capitalize on their proximity to theaters, museums and similar institutions, such as Playhouse Square and the developing Gordon Square Cultural Arts District; 3) recreation- oriented retail districts like the Flats that are poised to capitalize on their proximity to Lake Erie, local waterways and the developing Towpath Trail system; and 4) districts such as Tremont and the Lorain Avenue Antiques District that specialize in such offerings as entertainment, dining, antiques, artwork, and household furnishings. Each of these areas is successfully capitalizing on the ability of a large metropolitan retail market to support specialized retail clusters.

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Mayfield Road in the Little Italy neighborhood attracts a region-wide clientele to its collection of art galleries and ethnic-themed restaurants. [Little Italy]

The City of Cleveland, for its part, has developed a number of important regulatory tools that constitute powerful instrumental assets in the area of Retail Development. These include:

Locally-Based Design Review Districts: The City’s Business Revitalization District (BRD) zoning overlay permits community development corporations to establish locally-appointed and staffed design review boards. These bodies have jurisdiction within a geographically defined area and serve in an advisory capacity to the Cleveland City Planning Commission. Review by such groups helps to ensure that the design of all new construction and changes to existing building facades are compatible with the character of the surrounding architecture. To date, there are 17 active BRDs across the city.

Pedestrian Retail Overlay District: This overlay zoning district is intended for use in neighborhood retail districts characterized by the presence of retail buildings located at the sidewalk’s edge. PRO districts ensure that the pedestrian-oriented character of these shopping areas is preserved. This is achieved through a requirement that any new buildings be set back no further than five (5) feet from a street right-of-way. It further allows for up to a 33 % reduction in required parking and mandates that accessory parking spaces be located at the rear of buildings, where feasible. Most importantly, while the PRO district permits those uses allowed in the underlying Local or General Retail district, it specifically prohibits certain uses that detract from the pedestrian-oriented character of the district. These uses include automobile sales lots, gas stations, car washes and restaurant drive-thrus, whose driveways intersect with a pedestrian retail street and inhibit the flow of sidewalk foot traffic.

Business Improvement Districts (BID): Like many of its peer cities around the country, Cleveland has adopted enabling legislation that permits the establishment of Business Improvement Districts, commonly referred to as BIDs. Under the BID concept, property owners in a defined geographic area, such as a retail district, assess themselves a charge over and above their regular property taxes. This creates an income stream that provides funding for services at a level over and above that

normally supplied by the municipality. Services that can be funded by a BID generally fall into three categories: aesthetics, safety and maintenance. Coordinated physical improvements such as new sidewalks, lighting, benches, trash receptacles and identity or directional signage can dramatically improve the appearance of local commercial streetscapes. The presence of additional security patrols or video cameras to complement City police services can enhance the perception of safety in a commercial area. Finally, the desirability of a commercial area as a place to shop and dine can be improved through the development of a regular maintenance program that focuses on sidewalk cleaning, graffiti removal and landscape maintenance services.

Storefront Renovation Program: This initiative, begun in 1983 and run by the City’s Community Development Department, has been used to upgrade the visual appearance of more than 1,000 building façades citywide, representing an investment in excess of $30-million. The program offers rebates and/or low-interest loans in geographically targeted areas of the city to property owners who agree to comprehensively rehabilitate their building exteriors. Property owners are required to use construction materials and techniques based on the federal Secretary of the Interior’s commercial rehabilitation standards. To aid in this effort, professional design assistance, in the form of a detailed design standards manual and oversight by a storefront renovation specialist, is provided to program participants by the City of Cleveland.

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Before and after photos dramatically illustrate the impact of the City’s Storefront Renovation Program [Napier Building, Broadway Neighborhood]

CHALLENGES

Cleveland faces a number of challenges in the area of Retail Development that must be addressed. Several are identified here, along with some possible solutions:

• Retail Land Assembly: One of the major challenges facing developers seeking to construct new retail opportunities in Cleveland is the difficulty in assembling sites of sufficient scale. This is because the city has been fully developed or “built out” for many years. In areas where land is plentiful, it is often owned by a number of individual owners and/or may be contaminated due to past uses. Gaining title and securing a clean site can be a long, laborious and expensive proposition. The City-presently lacks a formal retail land assembly program that could be a useful tool for overcoming this often daunting challenge.

• Lack of Conveniently Located Parking: One major limitation affecting the growth and success of Cleveland’s traditional strip-style retail is the shortage of inexpensive, conveniently-located parking. This is because much of the city’s inventory of retail space was developed

during the streetcar era on shallow lots that front on major arterials. Parking was either not considered at all or was at best an afterthought. This situation greatly limits the development potential of available retail space that is otherwise advantageously located in the midst of Cleveland’s densely populated neighborhoods. The establishment of a City-sponsored Commercial Parking development strategy centered on identifying opportunity areas and coordinating the assembly and development of these sites into commercially viable parking lots could go a long way toward restoring the vitality of many of these commercial areas.

• Creating Neighborhood Wealth: For reasons explained above, the wealth created by Clevelanders shopping in local stores all too often finds its way to the bank accounts of people living in other parts of the region and in other parts of the country. Although significant outside ownership is inevitable in today’s retail economy, there is real potential to increase the concentration of wealth in city neighborhoods by expanding opportunities for Clevelanders to own the stores in which they shop. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Plan, through its commitment to promoting small-scale, urban retail districts, will significantly increase prospects for local ownership, which is typically absent in larger-scale and “big box” retail developments. This commitment to an “urban form” that is conducive to local ownership must be supplemented by initiatives to provide the capital, financing and technical assistance required to facilitate successful entrepreneurship.

• Understanding Market Opportunities: A close examination of many Cleveland retail districts a disturbing discrepancy between the buying power of the surrounding neighborhoods and the goods and services offered them in their own back yard. In many cases, this buying power rivals that of nearby suburban communities; the local retail offering, quite simply, doesn’t. In addition, the physical appearance of many city retail districts leaves much to be desired when compared with the orderliness and cleanliness of their suburban competition. So what would it take to get retailers and retail developers to appreciate the considerable, but too often hidden strengths offered by these city retail districts, such as ready access to densely populated markets with substantial collective buying power? Market studies are needed; and then, armed with these facts and insights, the city and community development corporations need to develop strategies incorporating everything from types of retail needed to parking solutions and streetscape designs that will better position the city’s retail districts vis-à-vis their suburban competitors.

• The Re-Invention of Local Retail: Once astute retailers recognize that they need to compete with larger marketers, they must then examine the strengths and weaknesses of their own operations. While most can’t compete on price, there are other ways they can create a more formidable—and successful—operation. For example, by providing a higher level of personal service such as home delivery of goods, more convenient store hours, a wider assortment of various types of products, and the cleanliness and appearance of their store.

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

The overarching goal is to provide Cleveland residents with a broad range of high quality, conveniently located retail shopping opportunities. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Plan therefore puts forth a comprehensive set of policies, each addressing a key issue—along with practical strategies through which we might take immediate steps toward their implementation:

1) Building on Strengths. Re-establish the competitiveness of Cleveland's neighborhood retail districts by building upon their traditional strengths as pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use districts with distinctive architectural character.

a. Increase resources available through the City's storefront renovation program. Provide streamlined services to Storefront Renovation Program participants (i.e., priority permit review by Building & Housing).

b. Prepare urban design and development plans, design guidelines, and retail market studies for each of the City's neighborhood retail districts.

c. Use specialized zoning districts to foster well-designed, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use retail districts with an identifiable anchor use that generates traffic and helps define the district.

d. Capitalize on Cleveland's rich cultural and ethnic diversity by incorporating cultural or ethnic themes into the strategies for strengthening retail areas.

2) Preservation. Give priority to renovation and infill development, as opposed to large-scale new development, as the principal means of providing competitive retail shopping in Cleveland.

a. Create "Business Improvement Districts" or other mechanism to channel funding to security, maintenance, streetscape, marketing, parking and other measures to strengthen neighborhood retail districts.

b. Increase utilization of the City's nationally renowned Storefront Renovation program as a tool to facilitate aesthetic changes in commercial buildings in Cleveland's retail districts.

c. Enforce building codes to (a) ensure vacant properties are properly maintained, and (b) Inspect properties with a view toward aesthetics and design when they inspect.

d. Avoid public subsidies for retail projects that provide direct competition for existing designated retail districts.

3) Building Smart. Strategically locate and design a limited number of large-scale shopping centers in a manner that will stem the outflow of retail spending from the city of Cleveland, while complementing the city's traditional retail districts.

a. Undertake market studies to identify areas of the city that possess the requisite demographic and economic characteristics to support large-scale shopping centers that complement existing viable retail nodes.

b. Target land assembly to facilitate development of strategically located shopping centers.

c. Encourage the use of "green" building practices to reduce commercial building energy consumption and decrease the amount of storm water runoff. * Discourage demolition of viable, architecturally significant structures in target retail districts.

4. Consolidating. Consolidate retail shopping to create and reinforce mixed-use "town centers" that serve as focal points of neighborhood activity. a. Implement land-use plans for retail consolidation through zoning map changes. b. Employ the Pedestrian Retail Overlay (PRO) zoning district to ensure that a pedestrian-friendly character is maintained in neighborhood retail districts where retail buildings are located at the sidewalk's edge. c. Conduct retail market analysis for existing retail districts to determine uses that complement the established retail mix and promote the clustering of such establishments.

5. Niche Marketing. Transform selected retail districts into regional attractions by clustering stores around common themes—such as arts and culture, ethnic identities, antiques, and recreation and scenic resources. a. Capitalize on unique attributes like the Towpath Trail and University Circle, the West Side & East Side Markets to create distinct retail areas that offer a shopping experience that caters to a cross-section of residents ranging from core users to casual visitors. b. Encourage CDC’s to avoid costly individual placement of magazine and or newspaper ads as part of their neighborhood marketing campaigns in favor of larger area Web based advertising as a retail marketing tool c. Utilize street fairs, special sales, couponing, sponsorships and similar promotions to promote awareness of retail areas. * Create "welcome to the neighborhoods" coupon packages from area retailers that are either mass-mailed periodically, or mailed to new residents in the surrounding area. d. Market districts such as Chinatown, Little Italy, Tremont and Downtown as a single entity rather than an agglomeration of individual businesses.

6. Tapping the Market. Improve the quantity and quality of retail in Cleveland neighborhoods by tapping into hidden market segments that are often overlooked by national retailers. a. Provide national retailers with demographic and economic data such as Social Compact’s City of Cleveland Neighborhood Market Drilldown, which illustrates and quantifies the extent of the city’s understated buying power. * City should identify a retail "salesman" – high energy, charismatic – who knows retailing, understands the reasons retailers use for not locating here, and understands neighborhood markets enough to advocate and create counter-arguments in support of urban neighborhood locations. This person can then "sell" appropriate sites to attract retailers and restaurants with financial strength to cover market rents in improved buildings.

b. Assemble and disseminate figures that show that the buying power of many of the city’s outlying neighborhoods, such as Kamm’s Corners, Lee-Harvard or Collinwood, rivals or exceeds that of adjacent suburban communities.

c. Identify specific neighborhoods capable of supporting a “niche” retail environment.

d. Utilize new “Discover Cleveland” concept where Visitors Bureau includes specific marketing to these “niche” neighborhoods and ways to get there.

7. Creating Employment. Recognize that retailing provides jobs that are often the first introduction to the workforce for young people and that provide senior citizens with opportunities for supplemental income and socialization.

a. Pursue matches between retailers and young people and seniors as part of a workforce preparation strategy.

8. Creating Wealth. Maximize opportunities for Cleveland residents to own and operate retail businesses in the city.

a. Target economic development assistance in a manner that facilitates local entrepreneurship and provides quality retailing and retailing in under-served areas.

b. Solicit the assistance of larger ethnic and/or business-based groups in mentoring city residents as business owners.

9. Connecting to Transit. Link new and revitalized retail development to public transit, as well as to pedestrian and bicycle routes and public amenities.

a. Provide pedestrian & cycling amenities such as bike racks, benches, water, air for tires, and lockers in and around major commercial districts and shopping centers.

b. Work with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority to develop additional community circulator bus routes to serve major retail districts citywide.

c. Encourage the development of convenience retail at rapid transit stations and major transit nodes.

10. Building Safe. Design retail developments to maximize public safety, and work with merchant and community organizations to ensure ongoing safety and security.

a. Incorporate reviews of public safety by qualified experts such as police officers into the design review process for major building and streetscape projects.

11. Streetscape. Improve the appearance and vitality of retail district “streetscapes” through the use of public art, banners and signs, benches, street trees, decorative paving, underground wiring, sidewalk cafes, etc.

a. Coordinate a regularly scheduled City-sponsored maintenance program that provides basic maintenance for public rights-of-way elements within commercial districts, including sidewalks, light poles, street pavement and striping, street and pedestrian lights, etc.

12. Parking. Develop strategically located shared parking lots and garages in neighborhood retail districts that are under-served by parking.

a. Conduct a detailed study of successful districts that appear to be “underparked” (e.g. Little Italy, Tremont) and conversely the use of unsuccessful or underutilized district

parking plans developed in the 1980s (Kamms, Detroit-Shoreway, Ohio City) to determine best practices for successful parking/historic district program.

b. Identify underutilized strategically located parcels in retail districts for acquisition and redevelopment as parking facilities.

c. Work with community development corporations to create neighborhood-based management strategies to operate and maintain parking facilities.

Specific identified opportunities relating to retail are listed in the Development Opportunities section of the Citywide Plan website.

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Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

OVERVIEW

Prosperous cities are cities that have adapted to changing economic conditions. The cities that adapt most successfully are those that take stock of their assets and connect those assets to opportunities in growing sectors of the economy. Cleveland is fortunate to be a city rich in assets. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan identifies Cleveland’s key economic assets and proposes economic development policies that build on the foundation of those assets.

So, what are Cleveland’s economic assets? Some of them, such as Cleveland’s world-renowned medical and educational institutions, are now the subjects of much excited discussion. Some, such as the plentiful supply of fresh water provided by the Great Lakes and the manufacturing skills possessed by Cleveland’s workforce, have hardly been seen as assets at all. While others, such as Cleveland’s strengths in the arts and culture and the distinctive character of the city’s many urban neighborhoods, which have long been seen mostly as things to be proud of, are just now being recognized as potential engines of economic growth with the power to attract bright and talented entrepreneurs.

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Case Western University is considered one of the premier research universities in the country, as well as its recognition as a tremendous local asset. [“The Turning Point” – Bellflower near East Blvd.]

The new Citywide Plan proposes an economic development strategy that focuses on connecting the city’s assets to opportunities for economic growth. The opportunities for growth are as diverse as our various assets. For example, medical education and research can create jobs in the burgeoning new field of biotechnology. Also, Cleveland’s proven strengths in traditional manufacturing, coupled with the area’s considerable expertise in cyber technology and training, can develop jobs in computer-assisted manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the city's distinctive urban neighborhoods and amenities, like an accessible lakefront and bike trail system connecting its nationally recognized park system, can, if properly developed and marketed, play an active role in creating jobs—by providing the kind of lively and stimulating urban environment that is known to attract creative individuals and fresh-thinking entrepreneurs of the sort who will drive the new "knowledge-based" economy. Indeed, in the very process of being converted to new use, even dubious "assets" such as brownfields and obsolete buildings create jobs in environmental remediation and "green" building.

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Lakefront access at Edgewater Park will be greatly enhanced by the City’s Lakefront Plan, contributing further to Cleveland’s diverse urban environment. [Edgewater Park]

construction—building local expertise in emerging industries that will soon be in great demand as the realities of environmental degradation and exploding energy needs worldwide sink in.

TRENDS

In plotting a course for future economic development in Cleveland, it is important to appreciate where we have been—and how we got there—as well as the changes that have occurred over the past half-century in the nature of the marketplace and the way business is done:

• Steel-based Economy: Most significant to Cleveland’s early economic growth were the steel industry and the related industries that make products from steel. As industry grew in Cleveland, so did the many businesses necessary to support industry, including banking, law, insurance and advertising. In recent decades, much of the steel-making industry and associated manufacturing industries have moved away from Midwestern cities like Cleveland to locations in the west and the south or even overseas. Cleveland’s challenge has been to retain as much of its core manufacturing industry as possible, sometimes in a modernized form, and to replace lost manufacturing jobs with equally high-paying jobs in growing sectors of the economy. Such sectors include bio-medical technology, advanced manufacturing, and information technology, as well as the more traditional fields of law, finance, marketing, and visitor-related services.

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Although many steel industry jobs have returned to Cleveland, advanced-technology steel production no longer requires thelarge workforce of the past. [Mittal Steel]

• Favored Modes of Transportation: Cleveland became a city in the first place because of the natural assets it enjoyed as a hub for commerce. Most important was its location at the confluence of two navigable waterways, Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River. The city’s rapid growth as a center of commerce and industry was fueled by the creation of additional transportation assets, most important among those being the Ohio & Erie Canal and rail lines, then port facilities, inter-state highways and Cleveland Hopkins Airport. As trucking has replaced rail- and water-based transportation, many firms have moved to suburban locations with better freeway access.

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The Cuyahoga River’s future may include consolidation and/or relocation of some existing industries to provide for more natural features in the river channel and riparian area. [Cuyahoga River near Lorain-Carnegie Bridge]

• Workforce Requirements: Steel, and steel-related, manufacturing in the period from the mid-19th through the last decades of the 20th century required a strong back, physical stamina, and the ability to master certain mostly mechanical skills, but not much formal education. The shift in recent decades to industries that make greater use of advanced technology has heightened the importance of a highly educated and technically skilled workforce. The presence of such a workforce can be a powerful factor in the willingness of companies to locate in Cleveland; just as important, this kind of preparedness will position Clevelander residents to secure higher-paying jobs in these emerging industries.

• Workforce Mobility: Another dynamic, now also at work, is impacting Cleveland’s ability to remain economically competitive in the 21st century. Earlier in Cleveland’s history, it was the availability of jobs that attracted new residents and drove the area’s economic growth. Generally, jobs materialized as a result of things like geographic location (proximity to raw materials and markets) and available means of transportation (access to raw materials and markets). Today in Cleveland and throughout the nation, a new trend is in evidence: Jobs are being attracted to metropolitan areas by the quality of life available there. Advances in transportation and communication, especially computer networks and the Internet, have made many workers—and entrepreneurs—more mobile than ever. Bright and talented people, in particular, no longer feel "stuck" in their hometowns. Since they can, for practical purposes, do their work almost any place, many are willing to move anywhere in the nation to find the "ideal" quality of life. And experience has shown that where these people decide to relocate, jobs will follow. These days, the answer to the age-old riddle about the chicken and the egg is: Who cares? Lure the chicken, get the eggs.

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Quality of life issues raise awareness of the importance of such entities as Cleveland Public Theatre in influencing job location decisions, for both businesses and workers. [Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood]

• Creating "Cities of Choice": Thus, things that once seemed little more than frosting on the cake—the presence of a large lake, parks and other amenities, unique living situations, distinctive neighborhood settings and classic architecture, great cultural and educational resources, and access to a wide range of opportunities—from recreation to superior health care—take on an enormous importance. Indeed, contemporary urban research suggests, the perception of a city as a place that not only tolerates but values and supports diversity and individuality is becoming a strong factor in many people’s choice of where to live. In a time when people are increasingly aware that they have the ability to make many choices, the challenge is to give them reasons to choose Cleveland; and existing residents and companies, reasons to stay or to move back into the city. Economic development in the 21st century will (and must) be closely tied to all these things.

The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Plan therefore proposes an integrated strategy for economic development designed to accelerate Cleveland’s transition from a 19th- and 20th-century manufacturing town to a more diversified and vibrant center of commerce and industry for the 21st century. This time

of transition is a time for a fresh vision of what we want our city to be by 2020, which in some cases may demand we abandon old ways of doing things and move, deliberately and thoughtfully, in new directions.

• New Directions: Changing circumstances and a reassessment of Cleveland’s strengths in six areas, including the importance of a strong employment base, have led to a growing consensus that efforts in those areas should be focused in new directions or on new objectives:

  • Advanced Manufacturing: Build on Cleveland’s strong base in traditional manufacturing with technological adaptations needed to keep those industries competitive.

  • Technology: Leverage Cleveland’s formidable assets in the areas of medical research and higher education to generate jobs in biomedical technology and other high-tech fields.

  • Connecting People and Jobs: Improve access of city residents to good jobs through effective job training, employer incentive programs, and strategically deployed transit services.

  • Regionalism: Capitalize on the combined assets of the city and its region in a coordinated initiative for regional economic prosperity.

  • Urban Living: Capitalize on the new interest in urban neighborhoods and the unique opportunities offered by urban living to attract talented individuals and entrepreneurs to Cleveland.

  • Culture & Recreation: Enhance the attractiveness of urban living by developing a more robust arts community and better access to waterfronts and recreational opportunities.

  • Immigration: increase the immigrant population as a means inviting creative thinking and entrepreneurial activity.

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Cleveland’s impressive manufacturing infrastructure still plays a vital role in the local economy, but its future competitiveness should be pursued jointly by all stakeholders, i.e., the private, public, and non-profit sectors. [Goodrich-Kirtland Park neibhborhood]

It is important that the potential benefits and overarching purpose of economic development be kept in mind.

• Benefits: The benefits of economic development to the local community are two-fold: (1) Jobs for city residents and a resulting higher standard of living; and (2) an expanded source of tax revenues to support the vital work of the City and its school district and a resulting higher level of services to city residents.

• Purpose: If the full benefits of economic development are to be had, the whole purpose of this effort needs to be kept in mind in every phase and aspect of the process. The purpose of economic development can be summarized as follows:
  • Increase employment in the city and prevent job loss.
  • Maximize the number of jobs paying higher salaries.
  • "Connect" all city residents to job opportunities, including segments of the population that do not now fully share in the area's economic opportunities.

"Economic development" means not only increasing the number and types of jobs located in the city, but also the access of city residents to those jobs. Stated even more succinctly, Cleveland's "Big Picture" goals for economic development could be expressed as follows:

• More jobs
• Better paying jobs
• More jobs for city residents, including minorities

ASSETS

Each community and each region in the nation has its own unique combination of assets. Cleveland must use its assets as guideposts in charting a course to economic prosperity. It is recognized that Cleveland will not become the next Silicon Valley nor will it become the next Disney World! If Cleveland is to prosper economically, however, it must work to enhance those uniquely Cleveland assets that will make the city most competitive in the 21st century. Key assets on which Cleveland's economic growth and regeneration can and should be built can be grouped under the following headings:

Access to Markets and Raw Materials:

• A central location within the metropolitan area and within a populous region of the nation
• Excellent access to transportation by air, water, rail and highway

Manufacturing Capability:

• A well-established base of manufacturing firms, particularly in metals-related industries, and an associated skilled workforce

Plentiful Land, Water & Energy:

• Under-utilized land near freeway interchanges
• Plentiful and affordable water resources
• Readily available utilities, including a municipally-owned electric utility

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Nationally Ranked Institutions: Nationally renowned medical and academic institutions, led by the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, and internationally known Gestalt Institute. The latter's integrative, deep-structure approach to

The world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, one of the City's largest employers, is situatated in an industry sector (health care/biotechnology) poised for sustained growth. [Cleveland Clinic Intercontenal Hotel]

human and organizational systems has been used effectively by small businesses, organizations and Fortune 500 companies held back by entrenched or conflicting ways of interacting to create organizational change that is both lasting and sustainable.

Cutting Edge Industries:

• An emerging bio-medical technology sector, associated with the area’s medical and academic institutions
• An emerging environment-related business sector, focused on brownfield remediation, green building, alternative energy sources, etc.

Culture & Recreation:

• Nationally renowned cultural institutions, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Playhouse, Karamu House and Playhouse Square Center (with 10,605 seats, the second largest performing arts center in the U.S., after New York’s Lincoln Center)
• An extensive park system, including the famed “Emerald Necklace”Lake Erie, with 12 miles of shoreline, marinas, sail boating, fishing & lakefront living

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Cleveland’s vibrant arts scene, which includes its historic theater district, contributes mightily to the City’s draw as a cultural destination spot. [Playhouse Square Center]

Urban Living:

• Mixed-use, pedestrian- and transit-oriented neighborhoods with distinctive, often historical architectural character, capable of attracting creative and entrepreneurial residents
• Loft-style living, urban townhouse, historic homes and other housing options
• A strong network of neighborhood-based community development corporations that tackle development challenges that the private sector is unwilling to. Examples include historic theatre renovation and urban wetlands enhancement.

CHALLENGES

The challenges faced by Cleveland in the area of Economic Development are formidable and must be taken very seriously.

Over the past several decades, the city of Cleveland has lost a significant amount of its manufacturing jobs, as companies have moved to suburban areas and other parts of the nation and the world. These jobs have not been fully replaced by equally high-paying jobs in growing sectors of the economy.

Compounding the problem is the fact that the much of the city’s workforce has failed to keep pace with the education and skills required by companies in the technology and knowledge sectors of the economy. Understanding the challenges facing Cleveland’s economy is a prerequisite to achieving renewed prosperity.

Among the challenges Cleveland faces in the area of economic development are:

• Industrial Sites with Access to Rail or Water but without Direct Access to Freeways
• Obsolete Industrial Buildings: Their multi-story construction, dilapidated condition and/or non-competitive location make them less attractive or marketable
• Inadequate Supply of Workers with High-Tech Skills
• Sizable Segment of the Population Lacking Basic Literacy and Math Skills
• Barriers to Employment Due to Racial and Ethnic Prejudice
• Lack of Assembled Sites of Sufficient Size for Major Development
• Brownfield Sites Requiring Expensive Environmental Remediation Prior to Redevelopment
• Competition from Regions with Lower Labor Costs and Lower Land Costs
• Competition from Cities Perceived to Offer a Better Quality of Life, in the form of either standard residential environments or “new urbanist” environments
• Absence of a Governmental Entity with a Mandate to Fund Public Development Projects of Regional Significance
• Insufficient Venture Capital for Start-up Firms, particularly in high-tech sectors
• Negative Perceptions of Public Schools and Neighborhood Safety

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Industrial properties whose buildings have outlived their former glory (such that they are not suitable to be adaptively re-used) can be land-banked and cleared for new industrial uses. [Trinity Building in Detroit-Shoreway]

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Brownfield sites are being re-envisioned as new industrial parks while funding is pursued for the necessary cleanup. [Midland Steel site in Cudell]

It is important to keep several other things in mind as economic development is pursued:

• Competitiveness: If Cleveland is to be truly competitive in the period ahead, each of these challenges must be addressed, as well as the opportunities that present themselves at the present time or loom in the near future—for it is in terms of the city’s future that we must all be thinking. Cleveland’s remarkable past has bequeathed to us many of the powerful assets which, imaginatively used—and in some cases, adapted to new uses—will be the building blocks on which that future rises. But the present moment is the only one in which we have the power to act, to forge new assets (such as a workforce armed with the new tools and technologies, and revitalized “neighborhoods of choice”) and to chart our course.

• A Shared Vision: That begins with the articulation of a vision and a set of goals and strategies developed in ongoing dialogue with residents, front-line agencies, business leaders and other stakeholders in the city and constituent neighborhoods of Cleveland. Several cities in the newly formed European Economic Union have been accomplishing extraordinary things by putting together comprehensive, well-disseminated development plans based on shared values that set forth agreed-upon priorities, goals and strategies for achieving them. It is essential that everyone, at every level, be working in the same direction, with the same goals and priorities in mind; otherwise, we are working at cross purposes, one group’s or individual’s activities potentially thwarting or even undermining the community’s ability to achieve its long-term goals.

• Connecting Resources: This is why the theme of connectivity is so key to this effort. When choices made in each sector of urban development are made with the whole, and its larger goals and priorities, in mind, individual developments can support or reinforce efforts being made in other sectors—and maximize the chances of both to succeed over the long run. A sustainable economy is one that takes into consideration all the things that could eventually render it unsustainable, and makes the most efficient use of its resources. As this generation of Americans is learning painfully, waste—whether it consists of human or material resources—has way of piling up and eventually jamming the wheels of continued progress. The most efficient machine, the men who built Cleveland the first time around would tell you, is one whose constituent parts are configured in such a way as to bring the most energy to bear on the challenge at hand. So it is with cities.

In sum: The City of Cleveland’s economic development policies, to have the best chance of success over the long run, must be:

• Based on agreed-upon priorities that have emerged from dialogue with residents and stakeholders

• Sustainable over time

• Asset-driven

• Designed to make the most efficient use of public and private resources

• Comprehensive as a group—that is, a set of mutually reinforcing policies for every area of Cleveland’s multifaceted life that impacts or is impacted by economic development

• Focused on specific, manageable goals

• Well disseminated, understood and “bought-into” citywide, at every level of activity

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

The goal of these efforts is to increase economic prosperity through job creation and improved access to jobs and business ownership by all segments of the Cleveland community. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Plan *therefore puts forth a comprehensive set of economic development policies, each focused on a specific goal, and strategies through which we might take immediate steps toward their implementation/achievement, in the following areas of the city’s life:

I. Health Care Commerce. Capitalize on the presence of world-renowned medical and educational institutions to grow businesses involved in health care procedures and products, while attracting patients and visitors from outside the region. a. Ensure "places" for health industry-related manufacturing, and patient-centered commerce around the economic hub of greater University Circle, and elsewhere.

b. Link new construction opportunities to Cleveland small business and residents, local
   purchasing and institution supply chain "mining" and recruitment to Cleveland. Prior
   to construction completion, plan for linking citizens, particularly within proximity to
   projects, to training and prepatory activities toward permanent jobs in the facility being
   built.

c. Leverage to the City's benefit the business expansion, recruitment and product
   commercialization efforts of groups such as Greater Cleveland Partnership,
   BioEnterprise, WIRE-Net, etc.

d. Develop a health industries training initiative to improve the fit between this industry
   and the skills of Clevelanders.

2. Advanced Manufacturing. Promote product design, product innovation and productivity process improvements to help industry shift from traditional production to higher-value and specialized output in sectors where Cleveland can create competitive advantages. a. Ensure "places" for manufacturing * Use the City Industrial/Commercial Land Bank to deliver underused land to market. * Promote the renovation of the most suitable existing building stock for contemporary manufacturing uses. * Adopt the land use recommendations of the Citywide 2020 plan through zoning. * Consider "Manufacturing Innovation Zones" that attract and focus public and private investment and assistance toward innovation and productivity.

b. Continue support and use CIRI and WIRE-Net to connect businesses to improvement
   resources including our universities, Magnet, WIRE-Net, and the assets of the City-County
   Workforce system.

c. Begin dialogues among city regulatory functions (Fire prevention, Health and Air Quality,
   Building and Housing, others) to ensure cost-effectiveness and efficiency as well as
   compliance.

d. Reinforce "smart manufacturing" policies at state and federal level, and encourage state
   and federal incentive policies that create regional growth and not outmigration of existing
   industries. This could include, for example, pushing for more effective enforcement of
   existing trade agreements; and working for state policies to help reign in skyrocketing
   health care costs.

e. Promote more water-intensive industries such as computer-chip manufacturing.

3. "Center of the Center." Strengthen the amenities, attractions, businesses and residential environment in the central city and its downtown as a keystone for regional economic growth.

a. Convention Center. Create a contemporary and competitive convention center to support a vibrant, 24-hour downtown district and to create jobs in the hospitality, restaurant and related economic sectors.

b. "First 5 Strategy." Fill in empty spaces between the already successful nodes of Downtown activity, by focusing on five high vacancy buildings and storefronts of opportunity. Consider re-tenancy, rehabilitation or entirely repurposing the now-obsolete spaces.

c. Connect Strengths. Downtown has a variety of different strong but relatively isolated activity centers -- Warehouse District, Gateway, Playhouse Square, Flats, North Coast Harbor -- which often feel like islands unto themselves--to one another will make residents, workers, and visitors feel they are a part of a larger and more cohesive whole.

d. Vigorously protect and enhance the American urban character of Cleveland as a key comparative advantage. Ensure each new development adds commensurate value.

e. Grow downtown and commercial business clusters. Many downtown business service firms (technology, accounting, others) are small businesses and benefit from a central location with proximity to customers. Consider key high vacancy office buildings or above ground floor retail space in low to mid rise buildings for home-based and incubator businesses, technology or micro business service firms. Make downtown and other commercial districts business friendly with allied services. Creative city-financing would assist property owners to retrofit the buildings to today's desired office space and design for small businesses.

f. Capitalize on Cleveland's dense fiber network and other technology infrastructure. Reinforce its role as regional technology hub. Replicate successes of technology centers, like Idea Center.

g. Vigorously recruit consumer product showrooms to Euclid Avenue and beyond and link to associated local firms as part of a "District of Design" strategy.

h. Activate Streetlife. Recruit and design for increased tenancies, densities, mix of uses, 24 hours uses, diversities of places to go for a diversity or audiences in downtown and commercial districts in other neighborhoods. Get more people on the street as both an indicator of nearby economic health and as an attractor to more,

i. Continue to address perceptions and realities of Downtown safety.

j. Continue to expand, improve, and market our tourism attractions to bring visitors to the City from inside and outside the region.

k. Market Cleveland. Tell Cleveland's story to Cleveland, the nation and the world. Communicate what business activity is already going on, continue positive placements in national media and capitalize on the Cavaliers' television exposure in China.

4. Learning. Strengthen public education and access to lifelong workforce learning opportunities as a foundation for building a globally competitive economy and personal prosperity for Cleveland residents. a. Align city resources with needs of residents and demands of the employer marketplace. b. Integrate workforce development activities within the City's economic development practice, as workforce is one of several "factors of development" for business.

c. Focus city resources to create year-round educational and workforce experiences in partnership with Cleveland Municipal School District as fundamental to long-term workforce competitiveness.

d. Engage employers to determine how best to deploy resources to retain and grow employment opportunities for Clevelanders.

e. Invest in people for the long-term; align their skills and interests with long-term job prospects.

f. Use the City’s considerable IT infrastructure to bring the technology skills of all of our region’s residents into the 21st century.

g. Use our regional assets to create opportunities so new workers will choose to relocate here, thus expanding our labor pool to meet business expansion opportunities.

h. Continue to petition the Ohio General Assembly to address the proven inequities that currently exist in the way school districts are funded within Ohio.

i. Establish ties with the Cleveland Institute of Art to allow for internships for industrial design students to work with small local manufacturing firms on new product development, product refinement, and possible expansion into new markets.

j. Work with the Cleveland School District to initiate a "design-focused" high school that would expose more students to the elements of industrial design. Identify private funding for the initiative.

k. Establish a city liaison to integrate higher education institutions into the City’s economic development program.

l. Encourage local employers to provide on-site job training in cooperation with neighborhood-based organizations. Consider making such services a requirement for City financial assistance, as appropriate.

5. Opportunity and Equity. Ensure that all Clevelanders have the opportunity to benefit from local economic development activity.

a. Envision and achieve opportunities for local economic impact beyond mere "job counts and tax base" and link these directly to benefit Cleveland residents and businesses when offering a business assistance package as "performance based incentives"— i.e., the more a business delivers, the higher the proposed level of incentive.

b. Use development deals to consider additional opportunities within a businesses' supply and value chains—such as "import substitution" of goods currently sourced from elsewhere and "supply chain mining" of providing firms that might benefit from being closer to their customers in Cleveland.

c. Link residents' opportunity to economic development activity through the creation of employment programs and products that can be negotiated as part of a business assistance package. Wherever possible, consider offering value to employers (such as pre-screened applicants or customized training prior to opening a new facility) rather than merely mandating local hires.

d. Consider targeted microenterprise, entrepreneurial and small business start-up programs as a means of opportunity for residents to build wealth.

e. Focus on business activity already “anchored” in the community (such as educational and cultural institutions, churches, publicly-owned assets) as starting points for local wealth creation strategies such as “Buy Local” efforts. Aggressively investigate other local wealth creation strategies.

f. Even the most seemingly blighted neighborhood still has assets, including the voluntary associations and organizations. Map and tap these assets.

g. Improve transportation options for residents to places of employment.

h. Focus efforts on locating businesses in neighborhoods with highest rates of unemployment.

6. Infrastructure. Plan long-term, coordinated improvements in roadways, transit, waterways, fiber and other infrastructure to foster retention and expansion of the economic base. a. Launch City’s 5 year Capital Improvements Plan to support our manufacturing, industrial/commercial land bank downtown, and other neighborhood development plans

b. Advocate as a region to state and federal governments for improvements to existing infrastructure in order to more easily connect Clevelanders to the city’s and region’s employment centers.

c. Make use of the waterways as amenities and a value-enhancing element.

d. Strengthen and continually improve Cleveland’s airport system as a powerful local and regional economic asset that provides critical access to the world economy for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Strengthen the relationship with Continental Airlines to ensure Cleveland has access to the world and the world has access to us.

e. Maintain, reinforce, deepen the public realm (rights of way, sidewalk and tree lawns, streetscapes, and even the private facades behind them, as well as publicly owned property and facilities.) Use new development as a means to further enhance that public realm.

f. Move critical infrastructure projects from concept to engineering, thus “fast tracking” them by enhancing their chances of being funded and implemented.

g. Pursue the study, funding, and implementation of capital projects as recommended by the 2020 Citywide Plan.

h. Encourage investment in commercial spaces, both downtown and in neighborhoods, which can be connected to the citywide and worldwide fiber optic networks

i. Encourage the creation of wireless technology zones in public areas throughout the City.

7. Adaptive Re-Use. Bring back into productive economic use advantageously located vacant properties and brownfield sites. a. Use Industrial/Commercial Land Bank to bring unproductive properties and buildings back into productive use.

b. Pursue progressive enforcement options against property owners with blighting influences. Ensure minimum standards of repair, cleanliness and safety are always maintained.

c. Seek external resources to cover the extraordinary costs of redeveloping urban properties, recognize the increased revenue benefits to urban schools and local government.

d. Seek ways to improve the value of properties and buildings through reuse.

e. Promote more construction site “deconstruction” and re-use of materials rather than demolition of structures for landfills.

8. Eco-Industry. Make Cleveland a national leader in the development and application of green building, environmental remediation, alternative energy and sustainability technologies. a. Pilot, then mainstream, high-performance building guidelines that reduce business operating costs and enhance personnel savings as well as generate demand for locally-produced goods and services. Consider the need for finance mechanisms to offset higher “first cost” items, repayable through eventual long-term savings. b. The City of Cleveland should take advantage of any and all opportunities to save money and/or reduce pollution by investing in and promoting energy derived from non-traditional sources. c. Offer financial assistance to locally-based entrepreneurial firms that wish to utilize bio-technology to help absorb toxic materials from polluted sites. d. Devise unique incentive programs that will encourage installation of site-specific wind/solar hybrid power generation for manufacturers who utilize large amounts of electricity.

9. Land Assembly. Assemble freeway-accessible sites large enough to accommodate industrial and office park development. a. Work more actively with private sector partners to use their expertise to physically and economically analyze underutilized properties and develop strategies for reusing them. b. Consider the use of eminent domain to obtain highly-underutilized and blighted railroad-owned land. c. Assemble sites and undertake take transportation improvements that minimize conflict between residential and industrial uses.

10. Regionalism. Promote the region’s broad range of business assets in competing collectively to attract businesses from beyond our regional economy. a. Conduct analyses to understand at a finer grain the city’s economic make up and its role within the regional economy. Match asset strengths with the business location needs of high growth-high yield sectors. b. Field an “offense” for City business recruitment by promoting regional assets to targeted national and international business segments and firms. c. Collectively strengthen the region’s economic assets with a coordinated approach to state and federal funding agencies. Ensure regulations and policies at those levels ensure a competitive central city and region.

d. Ensure Cleveland is a competitive location for business by being predictable. Promote the Citywide Plan as the overall development framework and ensure other entities and agencies align their development-related activities with the plan, reinforce it and avoid fragmentation or diminished value by countering it.

e. Share intelligence among economic development intermediaries and allied business support organizations so all relevant programs can be presented to a business/entrepreneur in a "one stop" fashion. Develop systems for cross referrals and "hot hand-offs" of potential clients to administering agencies. Develop outcome measures for loans made and business growth achieved as a result of interactions with these intermediaries, not merely counts of businesses consulted.

f. Land more deals. Proactively coordinate efforts of local and state government and major non-profit economic development financial assistance providers (Port, Team NEO, Growth Capital, WECO, others) with respect to particular development projects.

g. Partner with local institutions and local municipalities to combine purchasing power in such a way as to encourage the formation of local industries to provide more energy-efficient and sustainable products and services.

h. Discuss with surrounding communities the possibility of collaboration on the construction of an alternative-power generation station, such as a wind farm, biomass-fueled furnace, or fuel cell utility, whose output could be used to lower energy costs for all partnering communities and to allow for low-cost energy to be used as an economic development tool.

i. Discuss tax-revenue sharing with members of the Northeast Ohio First Suburbs Consortium.

j. Promote the City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio region as the Industrial Design Capital east of the Rocky Mountains.

k. Eliminate incentive battles between municipalities and work together toward developing regional incentive strategies for businesses.

II. Incentives. Use pubic financial incentives in proportion to the resulting local economic benefits, while ensuring that assistance program meets the full range of capital needs.

a. Identify where new gaps in financial products might exist based on the experience of these intermediaries and businesses that have used the existing capital products (or sought to). Create specialized product to meet unique urban redevelopment needs.

b. Maximize the use of private sector financial tools, using public sector tools where applicable, to offset some risk to enable more development to happen that wouldn't occur without public sector involvement.

c. Seek ways to monetize and quantify the benefits of urban reinvestment to government in tax revenue and avoided social spending. Use as a justification for cost-effective state and federal government investment to spur even more urban redevelopment. Conversely, work with other municipalities nationally on an "urban agenda" to remove policies that harm the economic well-being of cities and incur avoidable costs to taxpayers.

d. Adopt a "100 year" time frame for public decision-making. Make one test of development be whether it adds value for the next 100 years.

e. Use efficiencies as one criterion of where the public sector should take action.

f. Tap into local business networks as an entree to their national contacts for business recruitment.

g. Promote our locational assets to businesses similar to those already existing in the area.

h. Increase promotion of existing Empowerment Zone funds to qualifying businesses.

12. “Hassle Factor.” Make it easier and more predictable to do business in and with the City by implementing a customer-focused approach to regulation and approvals and by providing incentives in a manner that is transparent and easy to navigate.

a. Land use planning, zoning and other regulatory and permitted functions must be up front, clear, transparent, rational and predictable. Wherever possible make regulations “performance based,” self-verifiable rather than dependant on unclear or unpredictable standards and processes created to enforce them. Set the bar and enable those who meet it to develop “by right” not by committee approval.

b. Enact standards and clear, enforceable regulations that prevent diminution of value. Especially in areas with low investment activity for periods of time, do not let future value be diminished by land uses, building types or other activities that degrade value in adjacent properties, streetscapes or districts. Encourage current and future investment by ensuring this value will not be negatively impacted by adjacent or nearby actions not consistent with the long-term and Citywide plans.

c. Institute and ensure a “customer-focused” orientation for regulatory activities. Approach the applicant in policy and practices with a “getting to yes” spirit. Regulators must make it their business to help business invest. This means going beyond “no” to help wherever possible, a potential investor to get around obstacles while meeting or exceeding minimum government standards.

d. Adopt internal coordination and transfer procedures to ensure business inquiries and requests are quickly routed to the appropriate division to be resolved.

e. Create certainty for reuse with predictable, enforceable land use, zoning and other regulations.

f. Ensure zoning and other regulation supports the appropriate reuse of buildings. Reconcile conflicting policies that hamper such reuse and drive development elsewhere beyond the city.

g. Consider the multiple layers of government regulation and resolve conflicts where possible so that all policies reinforce the direction of the Citywide land use plan.

h. Maintain active relationships with existing companies by establishing regular intervals of contact in order to identify barriers for staying and growing in the City.

i. Allocate funding to allow for the hiring of 2-3 more Plans Examiners in the Department of Building and Housing to streamline the permitting process for those wishing to invest in the City.

13. Quality of Life. Create vibrant urban neighborhoods capable of attracting individuals who will fuel entrepreneurship and “new economy” businesses.

a. Ensure sub-area and finer-grain plans developed by the private sector, Community Development Corporations, or other intermediaries seek to reinforce and implement the policies and strategies in the Citywide land use plan and are undertaken in consultation with the City Planning Commission.

b. Create a program that will attract developers who will be willing to work with property owners to renovate existing upper-floors (of mixed-use buildings in selected corridors) into upscale apartments or condos.

c. Work with small businesses (existing and potential) such as coffee shops, art galleries, dance studios, artists, etc., to help finance start-ups or expansion into new neighborhoods through the use of loan guarantees or micro-loans.

14. Arts and Culture. Utilize the arts and cultural offerings to attract highly talented and skilled individuals to live and work in the city.

a. Create a Cabinet-level Department of Arts and Culture that would be a highly-visible co-promoter of sports-related events such as the Cleveland Grand Prix, the Gravity Games, etc.

b. Establish and market “arts districts” as an approach to revitalizing neighborhoods where galleries and other arts venues are concentrated

c. Capitalize on the presence of theaters, museums and other major arts venues as catalysts for neighborhood and regional development.

d. Create local mechanisms for permanent and predictable public funding for a diversity of arts endeavors in the Cleveland region, supplementing private and other governmental funding sources

e. Strengthen the City of Cleveland’s new public art program and work with other governments, developers and corporations to incorporate public art as a standard component of development projects throughout the city.

f. Use public art to strengthen the “sense of place” and highlight the heritage and character of each Cleveland neighborhood

g. Create supportive environments for local artists by establishing live-work districts, where obsolete industrial buildings are transformed into residences and studios through the use of financial incentives and innovative zoning

h. Ensure that residents of all neighborhoods, income levels and ages have affordable access to the arts, including arts programming in the public schools

i. Ensure that the arts in Cleveland fully reflect and represent the cultural and demographic diversity of the Cleveland community

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Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

RECREATION & OPEN SPACE

RECREATION & OPEN SPACE

OVERVIEW

Parks and open spaces play an important part in the quality of life of city neighborhoods. It should come as no surprise, in fact, that numerous studies have found that the presence in a neighborhood of parks ands open space increases the value of surrounding properties. But parks and natural greenspace not only make our neighborhoods more attractive places, they provide opportunities for recreation and exercise essential to good health. The more health-conscious Clevelanders become, the more they will see the importance of creating an environment that makes a healthier life style easier to incorporate into one's daily life. Parks provide opportunities for neighbors to socialize and get to know one another, fostering a sense of community.

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Recreational activity provides many physical, psychological and social benefits for a community. [Edgewater Park]

Parks, even small pocket parks, foster the spirit of play. Play has been shown to improve a child's capacity to learn, reason and develop strength and coordination. The recreational opportunities afforded by parks, baseball diamonds and outdoor basketball courts, keep at-risk youth off the street and provide them with positive outlets for their energy.

Attractive greenways and off-street trails that meander through a community can be used not only for recreation but for traveling to stores and other destinations. Bicycling provides an affordable alternative to combustion-driven transportation for many as well as a means of exercise. Developing greenways and connecting trails, along with some "bicycle-friendly" streets, is an effective way of encouraging residents to increase their physical activity. In addition to the health benefits, physical activity relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety and enhances psychological will being. A growing body of research indicates that just contact with the natural world improves physical and psychological health.

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Street trees provide both aesthetic and environmental benefits. [Old Brooklyn neighborhood]

Natural areas also form a kind of "green infrastructure" that performs many practical functions—such as improving air and water quality, reducing flooding and mitigating the effects of the "urban heat island"—that save

communities money. By absorbing and filtering out nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and particulate matter with their leaves, trees in the city provide a vital air cleaning service to city residents. In the hot summer months, they offer shade, helping to reduce residential temperatures and the amount of energy required for air conditioning. By absorbing much of the rainfall and filtering out some of the airborne and surface pollutants rain collects, trees, landscaped areas and natural areas also have a positive impact on the amount and quality of storm water runoff that enters our streams and the sewer system.

Some open spaces can even become community gardens, allowing residents to grow healthy fruits and vegetables, which can be expensive for lower-income residents to purchase at stores.

TRENDS

Several trends have been identified that give a clearer picture of the challenge before us in the area of Recreation, and may also suggest some areas of greatest vulnerability (or opportunity), where connections with appropriate community assets could be helpful:

• Rise in Obesity: Americans in general are getting fatter. In 2003 approximately 24.5% of adult Americans were obese and another 40% were overweight; and these numbers have been climbing over the last 20 years. Ohio is no exception. According to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, 24% of Ohioans are obese; 12.9% of Ohio high school students are obese; and 11.1% of low-income children ages 2 to 5 are overweight. Obesity rates for low-income groups, it seems, are approximately twice as high as those for high-income groups; and obesity is a gateway to heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other chronic diseases. Nor is obesity is just an issue for adults. Childhood obesity is also on the rise.

  Obesity is also a financial issue. It not only levies a cost on the individual in terms of health and quality of life, it impacts the entire community in the form of higher health care costs, which raises everyone’s insurance premiums. The Trust for America's Health estimated that in 2003 Ohio spent $3.3 billion dollars on obesity-related medical care. Half of obesity related care is financed by Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, Ohio spends $289 per person per year on medical costs related to obesity.

  The causes of obesity can include genetic predisposition and ethnicity, fast-food and full-service restaurant growth, unhealthy food environments, smoking and physical inactivity. Physically active jobs were the norm in 1950, but sedentary employment is now twice as common. Lack of physical education in the school day, too much time in front of the television or computer and lack of leisure-time physical activity and recreation contribute to weight gain. Developmental patterns that necessitate an over reliance on automobile travel and discourage physical activity are also part of the problem, while the lack of easily accessible and attractive parks and open space relegates many city residents to a sedentary, largely indoor existence. Driving downtown to see a Cavaliers game is not the same as tossing a few hoops yourself at a neighborhood court.

• Dwindling Greenspace: Cleveland was once known as the "Forest City". With the spreading out of the metropolitan area from the city's core over time, however, most of the land in and near the city has been developed. This has taken its toll on the natural character of the area. It has been estimated that Cuyahoga County is now nearly 90% developed. Increased pressure for development of the few remaining natural areas has created the need for a

more proactive approach to their preservation. At the same time, an opportunity has arisen, with the abandonment and underutilization of many previously developed places within the city, to restore previously degraded landscapes and features (such as waterfronts) and to incorporate greenspace into neighborhoods where it is sorely lacking.

• Poor Green Infrastructure Maintenance: The American Forests organization estimates that tree cover in urban areas east of the Mississippi has declined by about 30% over the last 20 years, while the footprint of the urban areas has increased by 20%. This decline in tree cover negatively impacts air water quality. The tree and landscape cover that does exist on currently developed sites must be maintained; and trees that die must be replaced. The City’s Parks Department estimates that between 1,000 and 2,000 trees die annually in Cleveland and that 1,500 to 2,000 trees need to be planted just to maintain the current tree resource. The Parks Department’s Urban Forestry office maintains trees on City properties and right- of-way. American Forests suggests general tree canopy goals, for metropolitan areas east of the Mississippi, of 25% for urban residential zones and 15% for central business districts.

• New Forms of Recreation Overlooked: A key to getting people to participate in recreation is providing them with the types of activity they desire. The City’s parks offer numerous recreation facilities such as ball fields, basketball and tennis courts, pools, playgrounds and recreation centers. There are many other types of recreation that have grown in popularity, however, that the City parks either do not provide facilities for or that are not easily accommodated. Skateboarding, mountain biking, rowing, dog runs, rock climbing and outdoor fitness courses are examples of the non-standard types of recreation facilities people want nowadays. Some of these might be provided through partnerships with other organizations or by nonprofit or user groups.

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Abandoned and underused rail corridors provide opportunities to create greenways in the City. [Kingsbury Run area]

ASSETS

Cleveland has a number of important assets in the area of Recreation & Open Space that can be built upon. These include:

Natural Features: Cleveland is fortunate to be located on one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world, Lake Erie. The lake has played an important role in the transportation of goods and materials that fuels the city’s economy and is one of the best sources of drinking water in the world. The vastness of Lake Erie creates an environment that is unusually compelling and lends itself to a wide variety of water-related activities. It also provides important habitat and migration corridors for a variety of birds and animals.

The Cuyahoga River and Valley are also important natural features that link Cleveland with many communities situated further from the lakeshore. The navigation channel, the more natural

sections of the river, and the valley hillsides also create unique places that provide the opportunity for a variety of recreational experiences. The various tributaries that flow from higher elevations down to Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River also create corridors that provide opportunities to connect city neighborhoods to the lakefront and river.

The lakefront, hillsides along creek and river valleys, and the hillside of the Portage Escarpment offer excellent vistas of large parts of the city and Lake Erie. These views of expansive landscapes give the observer a strong sense of connection to the larger community.

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Cleveland is fortunate to be located on one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world. [Whiskey Island]

Existing Park Systems: The Cleveland area benefits from a number of park systems administered at the local, county, state and national levels. Many of these parks are located along sections of the natural features cited above. The City of Cleveland’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Properties administers nearly 160 sites, from recreation centers to play lots. Some of the largest parks in the city were originally established in the 1890s as part of Cleveland’s first master park plan, which proposed a system of parks and parkways to that would ring the city. Gordon, Rockefeller, Wade, Shaker Lakes, Luke Easter, Garfield, Washington, Brookside and Edgewater parks, as well as West and MLK boulevards, were created as part of this first park system.

A second system, consisting of countywide parks, was proposed in 1916. The Metroparks were established predominantly in areas that were still rural and suburban in the early part of the 20th century. The western part of the "Emerald Necklace", so named because the park system takes the form of a loop of reservations around Cuyahoga County, lies along the far western boundary of the city along the Rocky River. Metroparks facilities are also located in the city along sections of the Big Creek and Mill Creek. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, the Mill Creek waterfall and the First Tee golf learning center at Washington Reservation are all facilities that the Metroparks operate within the city. The Metroparks have recently claimed an even greater presence within the first ring suburbs and the city with the expansion of the park system along West Creek, Mill Creek and the Cuyahoga River Valley. The establishment of the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation and the extension of the Towpath Trail north from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to Harvard Road bring a major part of the Metroparks system to downtown Cleveland’s doorstep.

The Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation and the Towpath Trail now connect the city to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which is one of the most visited parks in the national park system. Not only is a national park located in part of the Cuyahoga Valley, but there are a number of other national designations along the valley that may be leveraged to complement recreation and open space projects. The Ohio & Erie Canalway National Byway, the Ohio & Erie National Heritage Corridor, and the Cuyahoga American Heritage River all benefit, as officially designated natural treasures, from national programs promoting the history of the area. The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad offers riders an alternative transportation choice for observing the natural and historic features of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, as well as providing connections to Akron and Canton. Its northern terminus is currently five miles south of the city of Cleveland at Rockside Road; but operators of the railroad would like to extend it north toward Downtown Cleveland.

The State of Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources administers most of the public lakefront parks in the city including Edgewater Park, the East 55th Street Marina, Gordon Park, Euclid Beach, Villa Angela and Wildwood Park. These parks collectively cover approximately 450 acres.

City Park and Recreation Facilities: The City of Cleveland’s Parks Department administers a wide range of recreational facilities including play lots, playgrounds, community parks, district parks and recreation centers. The few passive open spaces it administers are concentrated primarily near downtown. The roughly 160 sites located within the city cover approximately 1,400 acres and include 87 neighborhood level parks and 17 recreation centers. Approximately 180 urban gardens are located in city neighborhoods. A recent study by the Northeast Ohio Foodshed Network indicates that the $100,000 in block grant monies invested annually reap an annual $1,000,000 worth of produce for residents. Gardening itself provides needed physical activity for many people and is also an activity that promotes intergenerational contact.

Recreational Organizations: “Communities” of residents drawn to various types of recreation, have formed been formed to promote their favorite pastime and organize events aimed at increasing participation. Rowing, road and mountain biking, walking, hiking, field trips for natural history buffs, and bird watching are all examples of local interests around which groups of enthusiasts have formed. These groups bring a great degree of expertise, passion and energy that can be mobilized to expand local recreational offerings.

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Despite its image as an industrial river with water quality problems the recreational potential of the Cuyahoga River is currently being realized by some recreational organizations. [Western Reserve Rowing Foundation members]

A number of private groups lease or own facilities on the waterfronts that have been improved to provide access to their members. In the Collinwood area, a number of small lakefront parks located at the ends of cul-de-sacs are owned and maintained by an association of homeowners on that street. A number of private marinas located on the lakefront and river channels provide water access to their members.

CHALLENGES

Cleveland faces a number of specific challenges in the area of Recreation & Open Space that need to be thoughtfully addressed:

• City Neighborhoods Lack Access to Natural Resources and Larger Open Space Systems: Enabling neighborhood residents to access the benefits of the Cleveland area’s tremendous natural resources and the splendid region-wide system of parks that ring the city would greatly enhance the opportunities for healthy exercise and recreation available to Clevelanders, as would making better connections between the neighborhoods and our City parks and recreation facilities. This was a major aspect of the City’s extensive lakefront planning process and is a signal feature of the resulting Lakefront Plan, which proposes specific and imaginative connections between existing neighborhoods and the city’s lakefront parks that would greatly increase public access to Lake Erie.

Another challenge will be changing the perception of the Cuyahoga Valley as the division between the east and west sides of the city and giving it a new image as our central gathering place. The extension of the Towpath Trail from Harvard Avenue to Downtown Cleveland will provide many residents with an opportunity to discover the recreational possibilities of the Valley. Providing safe and attractive connections between the surrounding neighborhoods and the Towpath Trail will be necessary to take maximum advantage of it.

The proposed trails and open space along the Lakefront and Valley will also provide an opportunity to better connect the city and its facilities to the larger system of parks and open space such as the Metroparks reservations and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Many opportunities to make such connections have been identified in the Cuyahoga County Greenprint developed by the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission.

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The extension of the Towpath Trail to Downtown Cleveland will open new recreational opportunities for many City residents. [Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation]

The need for safer and more attractive connections between neighborhood recreation facilities within the city is addressed by the City’s Bike Cleveland Plan. To see the opportunities for recreation and open space that have been identified, consult the Cleveland Bikeway Master Plan Map and the Recreation & Open Space section of the individual district chapters.

• Insufficient Opportunities for Physical Activity: The fact that city streets and bridges are designed to facilitate automobile traffic is another thing that keeps many Clevelanders in a sitting position even when they are outdoors. Making the "built environment" more conducive to walking and cycling, so residents can more easily incorporate physical activities into their daily lives, would thus be another way of fostering a healthier citizenry. In September of 2002 the Mayor's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee was formed. Its purpose is to establish citywide policies for bicycle and pedestrian-related improvements. The Advisory Committee produced the Bike Cleveland Plan to encourage public and private entities to set goals and implement key strategies that include:

  • Developing a network consisting of a minimum of 180 miles of trails and bike routes.

  • Attaining 2% bicycle usage for all short (5 miles & under) urban trips by the year 2020.

  • Improving air quality and the environment of Cleveland and reducing the use of diminishing natural resources.

  • Developing bicycling as a serious alternative transportation mode by the year 2010.

• Increasing awareness of bicycle safety.

If making Cleveland more bike-friendly is one way of creating a healthier community, providing neighborhood residents with access to affordable, healthy food is another key component of such an effort, which community gardening addresses.

• Polluted Everyday Environment: A major challenge to creating a healthier community is cleaning up the everyday environment in which the city's residents live. Past development patterns and industrial processes have left in their wake polluted "brownfields" that now stand in the way of economic redevelopment efforts and compromise natural features such as valleys and waterways that hold so much opportunity as open space amenities. Cleaning up brownfields, restoring the quality of our air and waterways, and integrating economic development with the establishment of new "open space corridors" are all important elements of this challenge.

• Overburdened Storm Sewers: We now recognize that even the newest developments have an impact on the quality of our environment. Concrete and roofing shingles don't absorb rainwater and snow the way soil does. When rain falls on hard surfaces like rooftops, parking lots and roadways, the runoff has to go somewhere, however, so it is directed to the sewer system as quickly as possible. But too much rainwater flowing into storm sewers in a short amount of time can overburden the system. Thankfully, the system has release valves designed for just such an occasion. The problem is that in much of the system storm water and sanitary sewage must share the same pipes; so when the overburdened sewer system release valves open they dump raw sewage directly into streams, the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie. As followers of the lakefront water quality advisories know, this negatively impacts recreational use of these natural assets for some period of time thereafter, not to mention the potential for creating additional recreation opportunities on our waterfronts.

The regional sewer district is planning to spend $3 billion to help prevent many (but not all) of these occurrences by building large underground holding tanks. But the community also needs to start thinking in more wholistic terms: The choices we make and decisions that are made in one seemingly unrelated sector of city life can have consequences, whether we like it or not, for other sectors. Choosing to cover several more acres of land with concrete and buildings may make sense economically, but steps must be taken to ensure that some other precious asset will not pay the price. Those planning future developments on the land's surface need to take all these things into consideration and design their developments in such a way as to limit the amount of storm water that enters the sewer system at peak periods. The water quality of our rivers and lake is at stake. The time has come for integrated planning.

• Recreation Programs and Facilities Need Improvement: Creating a more even distribution of facilities across the city has been identified as an issue. Providing facilities within reasonable walking distance that address the interests and needs of residents and is one part of the challenge; another is ensuring that the persons who staff all City facilities are knowledgeable, professional and friendly.

• A 2003 report by the Trust for Public Land titled "The Excellent City Park System" showed that, compared to other medium-high population density cities, Cleveland had approximately 6 acres per 1,000 people compared to the average of 12 acres. For many years the City of Cleveland has had a policy of no new parks; but some established cities

such as Denver and Seattle have actually increased their parkland by over 44 percent over the last 30 years. In many cities, however, a higher percentage of park lands are made up of so-called “natural properties”, which cost less to maintain. By contrast, most of Cleveland’s recreation facilities are “designed” landscapes that carry a higher operating cost. In addition, the City has limited resources. Through forming creative partnerships with other groups and organizations around specific opportunities, however, it may be able to identify new sources of revenue and find ways to make better use of existing staff and facilities.

A number of opportunities currently exist to develop recreational settings that take advantage of certain natural features, as well as some very promising projects that fall outside the traditional scope of City of Cleveland parks. To see these, go to the Alternative Recreation Opportunities Map.

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Recreation programming should serve the interests of all Clevelander’s including seniors and working adults. [Luke Easter Park]

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

The goal of these efforts is to provide high-quality recreation opportunities and facilities that meet the needs of Clevelanders of all ages, ability levels, incomes and interests. It is with this goal in mind that the Connecting Cleveland 2020 Plan puts forth a comprehensive set of policies relating to opportunities for Recreation and the enjoyment of Open Space citywide, along with specific strategies through which immediate steps may be taken toward their implementation:

1) Waterfront Access: Maximize public access to the lakefront, riverfront and stream valleys, including safe and convenient access from nearby neighborhoods for pedestrians and bicyclists.

a. Implement the recommendations in Cleveland’s Lakefront Plan. * Replace the Memorial Shoreway downtown with the Lakefront Boulevard, a slower speed pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly byway. * Create new pedestrian bridges and underpasses. * Develop enhanced transit linkages and trail connections. b. Use existing or buried stream corridors to create greenways as access routes between neighborhoods and the Cuyahoga Valley and lakefront. c. Design trails that provide access to the water’s edge where feasible. d. Improve the visual access to vistas of natural and man-made landscapes by developing scenic overlooks or protecting scenic views enjoyed from public spaces.

2) Waterfront Recreation. Develop and expand publicly accessible recreation sites along the lakefront and waterways.

a. Implement the recommendations in Cleveland’s Lakefront Plan.

• Develop new and expanded public beaches.
• Establish new parkland and facilities.
• Create a connected lakefront greenway network.

b. Support the construction of Canal Basin Park. c. Integrate publicly accessible waterfront sites or walkways into private development projects. d. Support the development of facilities by private or non-profit organizations that promote water-related recreation such as rowing, sailing, kayaking, etc.

3) Bikeways. Create a comprehensive network of bicycle routes, bicycle lanes and multi-purpose trails safely linking neighborhoods to recreation sites, schools, shopping areas, places of employment and other destinations throughout the city and the region.

a. Continue the Mayor's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee as a body charged with establishing citywide policies for bicycle-related improvements.

b. Focus improvements and signage along those routes and trails identified on the "Cleveland Bikeway Master Plan".

c. Complete the Towpath Trail from Harvard Avenue to the proposed Canal Basin Park and eventually to Lake Erie.

d. Enhance and upgrade existing portions of the Lakefront Bike Path.

e. Plan and implement trail connections to the Towpath Trail and the Lakefront Bike Path from adjacent neighborhoods.

f. Develop and expand continuous trails along waterways as part of broader greenway corridors.

g. Coordinate bikeway planning with adjacent communities and the Cleveland Metroparks.

h. Evaluate Ohio Department of Transportation property, railroad property and underutilized rights-of-way for use as potential trail routes.

i. Incorporate, where appropriate, bike lanes or trails as part other capital improvement projects.

j. Adopt standards and requirements for the design of trails and bike improvements for roadways in keeping with American Association of State and Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards.

k. Systematically identify and reduce road hazards and barriers such as potholes, glass, and sewer grates.

l. Use educational programs within the police department and other agencies to teach children and adults, cyclists and motorists to safely share the roads and trails.

m. Develop a City Bikeway Map, safety brochure and other bicycle publications that are regularly updated.

4. Bicycle and Pedestrian Amenities. Provide bicycle racks, benches, water fountains and other amenities to encourage bicycling and pedestrian travel throughout the city.

a. Develop incentives and accommodations to encourage employees of the City, other public agencies and private industry to commute to work by bicycle.

b. Establish secure bicycle parking at City buildings and parks.

c. Develop programs for biking parking at existing downtown buildings and consider implementing bike parking requirements in Cleveland’s zoning code for new buildings and developments.

d. Provide improved coordination of mass transit facilities, routes and bicycles.

e. Support an Annual Bicycle Week to promote bicycle use in Cleveland.

f. Design bicycle and pedestrian amenities as public art.

5. Serving Neighborhoods. Ensure that a wide range of recreation facilities are equitably distributed throughout the city, with playgrounds located within approximately ¼-mile (a 5-minute walk) of all residents.

a. Create a variety of public open spaces and recreation activities at the city-, district-, neighborhood-, and sub-neighborhood level equitably distributed throughout the city.

b. Focus development of new playgrounds in those areas further than ¼ mile from an existing recreation facility.

c. Transform vacant lots into community gardens or pocket parks.

d. Require greenspace amenities to be developed as part of new development projects.

e. Evaluate Ohio Department of Transportation property, railroad property and underutilized rights-of-way for trail and open space/neighborhood greening opportunities.

f. Improve the identity of parks through better wayfinding and signage.

6. Quality of Facilities. Provide recreation facilities competitive with the best available in the region, consolidating large-scale facilities at transit-accessible locations.

a. Improve the opportunity for community input in the planning process for park construction or renovation.

b. Partner with community organizations to train staff to deal with the challenges of today’s youth.

c. Invest in professional development training for parks design and maintenance staff.

d. Identify those programs residents would be willing to pay for to improve the quality of their facilities.

e. Create a program to collect crime data in parks in order to better plan safety improvements.

7. Diverse Programming. Offer a diversity of recreation programs to serve the recreation needs and interests of Clevelanders of all ages, incomes, lifestyles and ability levels.

   a. Redefine conventional definitions of recreation and open space to include community resources such as community gardens, skateboard parks, mountain bike courses, etc.

   b. Use parks as community space to bring people together.

   c. Expand opportunities to interpret community heritage.

   d. Expand opportunities to facilitate exposure and participation in broader arts and cultural activities.

   e. Create a disability advisory committee in the Parks Department to address special needs use at parks.

   f. Create programs to assist low-income park users, such as fee reduction programs.

   g. Improve programming for seniors.

8. Serving Working Adults. Provide recreation services and equipment geared to the interests and schedules of working adults, supplementing recreation services oriented principally to children and seniors.

   a. Engage recreational clubs in the use of City facilities and the development of their own facilities that address their areas of interest.

   b. Review hours of operation to ensure that the desired programs or facilities are available at times convenient for working adults.

   c. Expand the participation with the health-care community in developing programs that address the exercise and health needs of working-age residents.

9. Sharing Resources. Increase the availability and quality of recreation services through shared use of facilities owned by the City, School District, YMCA and other nonprofit organizations.

   a. Take stronger advantage of national, state and nonprofit grants and programs designed to provide resources for natural area restoration.

   b. Explore the potential of using school facilities for off-hour recreational purposes to better serve neighborhood residents.

   c. Explore creative partnerships with other organizations to enhance programming and resource development.

   d. Use cemeteries as passive recreation opportunities for walking, biking or heritage interpretation.

10. Sharing Responsibilities. Improve maintenance of public parks and recreation centers through "adopt-a-park" programs and corporate sponsorships.

a. Coordinate efforts with other government and nonprofit organizations with the goal of protecting and restoring the natural environment.

b. Encourage volunteerism from local communities and adopt a labor-supported City policy.

c. Consider other funding sources such as sponsorships, fees, partnerships, etc., to increase revenues for programs and facilities.

d. Increase the use of labor from groups like the Court Community Services, Americorps, Civilian Conservation Corps, inner-city churches and nonprofit groups to provide added maintenance and programming.

e. Charge non-residents for the use of facilities.

11) Community Gardens. Reserve land for both temporary and permanent use as community gardens in every neighborhood throughout the city.

a. Undertake an inventory of community gardens to identify those sites that should be protected for permanent use as gardens.

b. Grant community gardens a status that protects them similarly to other park properties.

c. Create a suitable nonprofit organization that is stable, able to manage multiple garden sites, able to address liability issues, and has a mission of conservation; or expand an urban gardening program to acquire, protect and manage garden sites in Cleveland.

d. Establish community gardens in parts of the city not currently served.

e. Develop and distribute a gardening curriculum to schools.

12) Preserving Natural Areas. Identify and protect natural areas characterized by stream valleys, wetlands, hillsides, forests and other environmentally sensitive and valuable features.

a. Adopt ordinances that protect environmentally sensitive areas such as hillsides, riparian areas and wetlands.

b. Develop neighborhood-level plans centered on restoring the function and aesthetics of natural features and highlighting them as amenities for neighborhood preservation and restoration.

c. Include water and habitat quality improvements as part of lakefront projects.

d. Support the acquisition of, and assist in the assembly of, land that will facilitate the achievement of specific greenspace protection goals.

e. Maintain most of Dike 14 as a nature preserve.

f. Identify opportunities for wetland mitigation projects within the city.

g. Engage organizations such as the Wildlife Habitat Council, which work with private businesses, to protect, restore and manage natural areas on private property in order to the presence of such assets in Cleveland.

h. Educate property owners on best management practices that reduce the negative environmental impacts of residential structures and uses.

i. Encourage the use of conservation easements on properties that will facilitate the achievement of a specific greenspace protection goal.

j. Encourage the incorporation of low-impact development features into new development proposals.

13) Urban Forest. Protect and expand the supply of street trees and landscaped areas within Cleveland’s urbanized districts, maximizing environmental and aesthetic benefits.

a. Establish tree canopy goals for different types of uses within the city.

b. Use satellite and aerial photography to target areas most in need of tree planting.

c. Increase support for the City’s tree planting program.

d. Consider development of a tree preservation ordinance that addresses private property.

Specific identified opportunities relating to recreation are listed in the Development Opportunities section of the Citywide Plan website.

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Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

SUSTAINABILITY

SUSTAINABILITY

OVERVIEW

What is a Sustainable Cleveland? Sustainability is commonly defined as the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Three overarching objectives of sustainability are known as the Three E’s – Economic Prosperity, Environmental Quality and Social Equity / Equal Opportunity. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan seeks to recreate a city that considers the Three E’s in all decision-making for today and tomorrow.

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Because past generations viewed natural resources as limitless, nature was something to be tamed and served as a dumping ground for myriads of waste, today we must address the consequences of actions that have, in fact, compromised our “present.” These consequences include, among others, contaminated brownfield sites, urban sprawl, over-dependence on the automobile, energy-wasting buildings, poor air and water quality, and unhealthy lifestyles associated with unhealthy development patterns. If we are wasteful and polluting of our local environment, we not only harm our own public health and the resources we depend upon to survive, but we add to global environmental and health problems.

⬚ figure Cleveland’s high profile icon of sustainability. [The Great Lakes Science Center’s Wind Turbine, Downtown]

Sustainability, however, requires even more than protection of our natural environment and our physical health. Just as important is the commitment to the minds of our children and all Clevelanders – providing them with the education that will enable them to adapt to ever-changing economic and social circumstances. In this sense, an educated community is a sustainable community, just as much as a healthy community is a sustainable community.

Where We Are with Sustainability A trend toward urban living in cities like Chicago and Columbus and thriving neighborhoods in Cleveland, like Tremont and Ohio City, show us that we need to have the tools and diversity of housing stock in place to attract people to the City.

Although Cleveland’s population continues to decline, we have many assets to build off of in order to bring people back to the City. Cleveland already has an urban form that can accommodate much more density and liveliness. Developing in urban environments is inherently sustainable rather than building on undeveloped land (“greenfields”) in the outer suburbs, because the infrastructure (which is costly to construct and maintain) is already in place as is the older building stock that can be rehabilitated and re-used. The City Planning Commission has been working to create mixed-use neighborhoods that are pedestrian friendly, bicycle friendly and transit-oriented to make Cleveland a more competitive place to live, work and visit.

A major portion of that work has been amending the City’s zoning code to promote sustainable development (“smart zoning”). For years Cleveland’s zoning code has been much more accommodating to mixed-use land use patterns as compared to many other cities because of the “pyramidal” nature of the regulations. That is, uses which are considered more intense (e.g. industry) are not allowed in districts zoned for less intense uses (e.g. residences), but less intense uses could be developed in districts zoned for more intense uses. For example, a district might be zoned for retail, but the zoning would allow single-, two- or multi-family uses to be developed there. To further promote sustainable development the City has recently made the following changes to the zoning code:

• Open Space & Recreation (OSR) District – New zoning classification to protect and make permanent public parks, community gardens, open spaces and natural areas for recreation, scenic and environmental enhancement (Chapter 342).
• Midtown Mixed-Use District – New form-based zoning district to encourage dense, compact land development with a pedestrian-oriented mix of uses and design criteria set to complement the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project investment (Chapter 344).
• Live-Work Overlay District – New overlay district that permits the re-use of older, under-utilized industrial buildings for a combination of living and working space, even in industrial districts that otherwise prohibit residential use (Chapter 346). Recycling existing buildings uses less energy and resources than building new, and capitalizes on construction quality far superior to what is typically constructed today.
• Business Revitalization Districts (BRDs) – Districts with neighborhood-level design review committees that mandate the review of all exterior building and site modifications to ensure compatibility with each specific neighborhood’s historic character. BRDs play an important role in protecting the density, balance of uses and pedestrian orientation that make these communities sustainable. In 2006, there are 17 BRDs established in the City. (Chapter 303).
• Pedestrian Retail Overlay (PRO) District – Zoning overlay district created to preserve the pedestrian-oriented character of our unique shopping districts, accomplished through regulatory tools addressing building placement, use, reduced parking requirements, etc. (Chapter 343.23).
• Downtown Surface Parking Lot Prohibition - Prohibits new surface parking lots in the core of downtown to preserve downtown’s urban architectural character (Chapter 349.14).
• Urban Lot Sizes – Amendment to Cleveland’s subdivision regulations allowing the creation of “substandard” lots (e.g., lots that are smaller than otherwise required) where such small lot sizes are characteristic of many of our older, urban density neighborhoods (Chapter 309.26).
• Urban Townhouse District – New zoning district created to ease the approval process for townhouse developments of varying densities. Townhouses are an urban housing form underrepresented in Cleveland’s housing stock (Chapter 337.031).

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This park conversion is a wonderful, green respite for downtown workers from the concrete parking lot that stood in its place in 2005. [Mall C, Downtown]

• Planned Unit Development (PUD) Overlay District – New overlay district which provides zoning flexibility in return for innovative site planning and urban design amenities (Chapter 334).

In addition to changes to the zoning code, the City has undertaken a number of other initiatives to promote sustainability.

• The City has created the positions of Sustainability Programs Manager and Land Revitalization Manager, two important jobs aimed at reducing costs by ensuring that resources are used efficiently and that contaminated lands are cleaned and put back into productive use.
  • Many projects have resulted from these two positions including construction and demolition debris recycling in the Division of Water; the City’s 2006 Anti-Idling Policy for City vehicles; the purchase of hybrid City vehicles (32 hybrids in fleet as of September 2006); and an Industrial Landbank Program to assemble and clean up industrial sites for redevelopment.
• Transit Oriented Development (TOD) – TOD is a tool used to create high density, walkable mixed-use, mixed-income development around new rail stations and transit stops. TOD is implemented through site review and the intent is to improve quality of life through reducing household transportation expenses, reducing environmental effects and pollution from automobile exhaust in a city with very high asthma rates. ⬚ figure Cleveland’s model of a sustainable, transit oriented neighborhood with high density housing, transit-accessibility, in a walkable shopping and entertainment district. [Shaker Square, Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood]
• Pedestrian Oriented Development (POD) – POD is also implemented through design and site review. By recommending building placement at the sidewalk and parking at the rear the City encourages pedestrian convenience.
• Draft Citywide Bikeway Plan – City Planning has developed its first draft bike plan with recommendations for the locations of bike routes, lanes and multi-purpose trails throughout Cleveland. The plan also proposes connections that will link City neighborhoods and neighboring suburbs as part of a regional bikeway network.
  • City Racks / City Seats Program – The program will install 500 bike racks around Cleveland at schools, recreation centers, neighborhood retail districts, downtown, etc. 200 benches will be installed or replaced in parks and retail districts for use by pedestrians.
• Mayor’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee – The City has established an interdepartmental committee that reviews roadway/planning projects to ensure bicycling and pedestrian accommodations.
• Mayor’s Streetscape Committee – This interdepartmental committee reviews changes to the public right-of-way that affect urban design. The intention is to decrease visual clutter and incorporate amenities like street trees, banners and bike lanes on Cleveland streets.
• Plans Review Training - The Cleveland Building and Housing Department is training building inspectors and plans examiners in green / high performance building review.
• Development Incentives - Cleveland’s Economic Development Department is currently working to create development standards and incentives for green / high performance development for the Industrial Landbank Program.

• Housing Trust Fund – The Cleveland Community Development Department included financial incentives for green / high performance building (including an Energy Star credit and LEED silver bonus) as part of the 2006 Housing Trust Fund (HTF) application. The HTF dedicates funds annually to support affordable housing.

Many City initiatives were created without the intent of being ‘sustainable,’ but are sustainable in nature by combating sprawl.

• Rehabilitation programs that aim to preserve and bring back existing housing stock.
  • The Cleveland Landmarks Commission encourages preservation of historically and architecturally significant buildings.
  • The Cleveland Community Development Department has several residential and commercial rehabilitation and renovation programs.
• New housing construction program within Cleveland’s Community Development Department. Because the majority of our new housing is built on vacant lots, this infill development is inherently sustainable because it uses the existing infrastructure and results in few demolitions.

Where We’re Going The City needs to be a leader in making Cleveland sustainable. If we embrace sustainability principles and acknowledge our greatest challenges, high levels of poverty and a distressed economy, we will find holistic solutions that strengthen our community in the long-run.

With Cleveland’s manufacturing base and skilled labor pool, it is a natural place for industries oriented towards sustainability to develop. A sustainable Cleveland cannot be addressed passively, and will require major reassessment of the way we look at all components of our City within the greater region, an effort that needs the political will of community leaders and the public. With serious national and global issues affecting our daily lives, from dwindling oil reserves to rising costs of living, we must position ourselves so we can sustain our population when times get tough. We also must push for a political climate at the state level that is more sympathetic to urban issues.

A sustainable Cleveland is a city that conserves natural resources so that they are plentiful in the future. A sustainable Cleveland is a city that provides educational and employment opportunities to current residents in order to ensure economic prosperity for future generations. A sustainable Cleveland is a city that provides opportunities for healthy living to all citizens. A sustainable Cleveland is one that makes short-term decisions, be they cultural, economic, social or environmental, with our community’s long-term health and vitality in mind. We must have the courage and determination to imagine a new Cleveland, a Cleveland for the 21st century. The time has come for all of us to stop thinking of Cleveland as a “Rust Belt” city struggling to regain its glorious but smoky past and start thinking of ourselves as the residents of a dynamic urban center in a most enviable natural setting, planning and laying the groundwork for its exciting future as the Green City on a Blue Lake.

TRENDS

Several trends have been identified that give a clearer picture of the challenge before us in the area of Sustainability, and may also suggest some areas of greatest vulnerability (or opportunity), where connections with appropriate community assets could be helpful.

Cleveland’s Population Decline: Cleveland’s population has declined dramatically from its peak of 914,000 in 1950 to 478,403 in 2000. The consequence has been a sharply reduced City tax base, resulting in concentrated poverty, blighted buildings and vacant lots peppering the previously

natural landscape. The ironic upside to this loss of population is an opportunity to redevelop land in ways that respect the natural environment and do not undermine the health of our population.

This is already being done in other downsized cities around the world. For example, in Eastern Germany mass demolition of whole blocks of underutilized, deteriorating apartment buildings has led to a massive re-vegetation effort - making urban life more pleasant (and healthful) for the remaining residents, and more attractive to prospective residents.

Environmental Degradation: The Northeast Ohio region has challenging environmental issues. While air and water quality do not meet stringent federal health standards, both have made major strides over the past 30 years with notable improvements in air quality. Expansion of urban areas (aka sprawl) has resulted in widespread environmental degradation with the reduction of riparian areas, wetlands, farmland, wildlife and plant habitat. This in turn has led to rising greenhouse and heat island effects, flooding problems, soil contamination, and poor air and water quality. Disinvestment in urban areas has led to an increase in brownfield sites and a dramatically decreased tax base which has direct negative effects on human health, quality of life, and our valuable natural resources.

Land Use Patterns: Cleveland was once known as the “Forest City.” As the metropolitan area has sprawled out over time, most of the land in and near the City has been developed, changing the natural character of the community. It is estimated that Cuyahoga County is nearly 90% developed with no net increase in population over the past half century. These sprawling trends are not sustainable for our local or regional health. As Cleveland’s metropolitan area continues to sprawl, our infrastructure becomes more widespread and strained, which negatively impacts our City’s and region’s health as the tax base declines. This has also created increased development pressure on the few remaining natural areas, necessitating a more proactive approach towards open space preservation.

In addition, Northeast Ohio has traditionally supported a diversity of agricultural enterprises, owing to the diverse micro-climates and geological influences of Lake Erie. Prime agricultural land is continuously being retired, threatening the long-term food security of the region.

Rise in Obesity & Other Lifestyle-Related Illnesses: Americans in general are getting fatter. In 2003, approximately 24% of adult Americans were obese and another 40% were overweight. These numbers have been climbing over the last 20 years. Obesity rates are approximately twice as high in low-income groups as compared to high-income groups, and obesity is a gateway to heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other diseases. Obesity is an issue for adults and now children. Not only does obesity cost the individual in terms of health and quality of life, but it costs everyone in terms of health care costs. The Trust for America’s Health estimated that total state medical costs for Ohio in 2003 associated with obesity were $3.3 billion dollars. The cause of obesity can include genetic predisposition and a culture that promotes the consumption of high calorie foods.

Many lower-income communities lack access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and other foods needed for a healthy diet. The Cleveland Department of Public Health has identified several “food deserts” across metropolitan Cleveland where residents lack access to foods needed for a healthy diet. For many neighborhoods, fast food establishments and convenience stores offer the only close and reliable access to daily food. In addition, where physically active jobs were the norm in 1950, sedentary employment is now twice as common. Development patterns that necessitate an over reliance on automobile travel and discourage physical activity are also part of the problem, which includes the lack of easily accessible and attractive parks and open space.

Local Foods Purchasing: According to a 2002 study at Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga County residents and businesses collectively purchased over $3 billion in food each year. Yet, most of these food dollars left the region and even the state, following an average 1,300 mile transportation chain. There are encouraging trends toward increased demand for local food in Northeast Ohio, as evidenced by 32 farmers markets which provide outlets for smaller-scale family farmers to sell directly to the public. Numerous restaurants and grocers are placing increased emphasis on purchasing locally and Oberlin College’s dining services acquire roughly 40% of their food from local sources. Initiatives such as City Fresh are targeting limited income neighborhoods with Fresh Stop markets which provide neighborhood-based local food distribution and nutrition education. Increased demand is providing new opportunities for farmers throughout the region, including urban market gardeners growing food within city limits.

Transportation: Compared to similar size cities around the nation, Cleveland has the advantage of relatively minor traffic congestion problems. Yet, as we continue to add and widen highways regionally, we increase outer-ring roadway congestion and urban sprawl. Automobiles release a chemical mixture into the air that is the leading cause of urban smog and the largest contributor to the serious environmental problems of acid rain and global warming. Cars also emit several toxic substances into the air that have been connected to severe health problems, including respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses as well as cancer.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic wastes not only peoples’ time and productivity, but fuel, increasing our dependency on foreign oil. Vehicles in the United States consume roughly one-quarter of the total energy currently being produced and two-thirds of all oil. In the 1970s, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States relied on overseas sources for over one-third of its oil; today our dependence has grown to 56%. By 2025, if nothing is done, that figure could reach 68%.

Education & the Changing Economy: Dramatic changes in the U.S. economy have had several effects on the City of Cleveland and its working-age population. One outcome is a drastic reduction in available well-paying jobs due to the loss of much heavy manufacturing and almost a dozen corporate headquarters of major companies. Cleveland now has a large pool of workers unable to use their manufacturing-based skills, a 31% poverty rate citywide, and an under-educated population unable to take advantage of the consumer- and service-based employment opportunities of today.

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Vacant industrial buildings scattered throughout the city are in need of clean-up and re-use to improve neighborhood image, and environmental and public health. [Former GE Plant – Goodrich-Kirtland Park neighborhood]

One way to address the loss in manufacturing jobs is to aggressively draw renewable energy jobs to the region that utilize our manufacturing skilled work force (e.g. developing wind turbine components). Another way is to recognize the shift in recent decades to industries that make greater use of advanced technology, and aggressively grow a highly educated and technically skilled workforce.

Workforce Mobility: Cleveland’s ability to remain economically competitive in the 21st century is impacted by workforce mobility. Earlier in Cleveland’s history, it was the availability of jobs that attracted new residents and drove the area’s economic growth. Today in Cleveland and throughout the nation, a new trend is in evidence. Jobs are being attracted to metropolitan areas by the quality of life available there. Advances in transportation and communication, especially computer networks and the internet, have made many workers—and entrepreneurs—more mobile than ever, making it of utmost importance that Cleveland becomes a “City of Choice”. Contemporary urban research suggests that the perception of a city as a place that not only tolerates but values and supports diversity and individuality is becoming a strong factor in many people’s choice of where to live. Economic development in the 21st century will (and must) be closely tied to all these things.

Waste Slows Progress: A sustainable economy is one that takes into consideration all the things that could eventually render it unsustainable, and makes the most efficient use of its local resources. As this generation of Americans is learning painfully, waste—whether it consists of human or material resources—has a way of piling up and eventually jamming the wheels of continued progress. Cleveland’s remarkable past has given us many of the powerful assets which, imaginatively used—and in some cases, adapted to new uses—will be the building blocks on which that future rises. But the present moment is the only one in which we have the power to act, to forge new assets (such as a workforce armed with the new tools and technologies, and revitalized “neighborhoods of choice”) and to chart our course. Some recent trends and developments in several areas hold considerable promise:

High Performance / Green Building: The impact of the built environment on public health and the environment has led to a new field called green building. Green / sustainable / high performance (all synonymous terms) building practices promote healthier living and working environments, and are more resource-efficient than conventional building practices.

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The built environment accounts for roughly one-third of all energy, water and materials used and generates similar proportions of pollution. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks indoor air quality as one of the top five environmental health risks today, which negatively affects health and work performance in buildings. EPA also estimates that the average family spends nearly $1,900 annually on energy bills. Benefits of green building technologies include strengthening local economies and communities, waste reduction, decreased water use, energy savings, reduced operating and maintenance costs, improved indoor air quality, and conserving natural resources and habitats. Less quantifiable benefits include improved public health, employee morale, productivity and public image. While building high-performance can increase initial costs of construction by roughly 2-7%, the cost savings are realized in a relatively short period of time.

Energy Conservation / Renewable Energy: “Fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil provide most of the energy used by industry and consumers in the United States. These non-renewable sources of energy impact land, water, and air across geographical scales, and in the U.S. are directly responsible for: 98% of CO² (carbon dioxide), 95% of NOˣ (nitrogen oxide), 93% of SO² (sulfur

dioxide), 54% of non-methane VOC (volatile organic compounds), and 34% of CH⁴ (methane) emissions. In the long run, achieving sustainability will require that energy be produced by cleaner and more efficient technologies, be used more efficiently and with greater conservation, and be developed from renewable sources.” (from EPA’s website on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment)

Wind energy is currently the fastest-growing energy source when compared to solar and non-hydro renewable sources, but still accounts for less than 1% of the of national energy production. By 2020, the American Wind Energy Association anticipates that it will grow to 6%. A U.S. Department of Energy report showed Ohio second only to California in terms of new job potential in the wind-energy sector. The report stated that wind power could create 11,688 full-time jobs in Ohio and 8,549 in Michigan (Green Energy Ohio website). Cleveland needs to utilize its manufacturing base and infrastructure to capture wind and solar power job growth.

Recycling & Solid Waste Disposal: Landfills and incineration lead to harmful air emissions, and to pollutants that can leach into surface and groundwater over time. While recovery of methane gas (a landfill byproduct) can and should be recovered for alternative fuel use, landfills are very costly to build, manage and close. Although Ohio has plenty of landfill space in the near future, conserving landfill space now will prevent building new or expanding existing landfills.

One of the largest contributors of landfill waste is construction and demolition (C&D) debris, which in some states account for 20-30% of municipal waste. New industries are emerging to divert waste from C&D landfills, such as deconstruction, the recovery of salvageable building materials for reuse or resale which occurs during remodeling or demolition projects. These new recycling industries established to reduce both sanitary and C&D landfill waste need to be promoted and become standard practice in Cleveland. The economics also support diversion of waste: for every truckload of waste we send to a local landfill, the City of Cleveland must pay for the disposal; for every truckload of ‘waste’ diverted from the landfill and recycled, the City of Cleveland actually makes money. By encouraging recycling and educating our population about the benefits of recycling, we use taxpayer money more prudently and increase our wealth as a community.

ASSETS

Cleveland has a number of important assets in the area of Sustainability that can be built upon, a number of which are discussed below.

Reduced Population & Unused or Underused Land: As was mentioned in the Trends Section, Cleveland’s population decline has afforded the opportunity to redevelop excess, underutilized land in ways that respect the natural environment and do not undermine the health of our population.

Sustainability Programs Manager Position: On May 26, 2005, the City of Cleveland hired its first Sustainability Programs Manager, with funds from the Cleveland and George Gund Foundations, upon the recommendation of a consortium of local sustainability organization led by the nonprofit EcoCity Cleveland. The strategies and objectives of this initiative are set by a steering committee composed of local nonprofit representatives, City Council, and Public Utility Department representatives. The Sustainability Manager’s charge is to reduce the City’s costs through the implementation of energy efficiency programs, new policies and incentives aimed at promoting green building, and other sustainability efforts. A Sustainability Advisory Committee, to be formed in 2006, will be made up of representatives of environmental groups, CDCs, businesses, the public health community and other appropriate bodies or sectors.

City Successes to Build Upon: The City has implemented many sustainable initiatives that can be used as models by other programs and expanded upon, which are outlined in detail in the Overview Section.

Regional Successes to Build Upon: The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration was formed to identify strategies for restoring and protecting the Great Lakes in a sustainable manner. The Collaboration completed the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy: To Restore and Protect the Great Lakes in December 2005 with the support of the Great Lakes mayors and other Great Lakes leadership groups. The Voices & Choices Initiative is a Northeast Ohio, community-driven effort to pool resources and identify ways to improve the regional economy and prosperity. The Northeast Ohio First Suburbs Consortium, a group of Cleveland inner ring suburban municipalities, was formed to address issues facing developed communities with limited financial resources, to encourage redevelopment and to strengthen local economies in a sustainable, cooperative manner. The Cuyahoga Valley Initiative, a Cuyahoga County Planning plan, aims to promote redeveloping the Cuyahoga River Valley in a sustainable manner through building upon existing assets in the valley, using the valley to unify the region's communities, renewing the economy, and restoring the urban ecology. The Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority (GCRTA) created a Commuter Advantage Program that rewards transit users with pre-tax benefits. Another regionally focused organization is Greater Ohio, a citizen-based network promoting regional issues to grow our economy and quality of life through smart land use. The City Fresh initiative of the New Agrarian Center and Ohio State University Extension provides a regional approach to local food development by linking farmers with limited-income neighborhoods in the city. Such urban to rural linkages will be critical in fostering greater economic networking between core cities and the countryside.

The region also has a rich history with Community Development Corporations and Settlement Houses. Places like University Settlement, Merrick House, Friendly Inn, and Alta House, to name a few, developed as community-based prototypes for the sustainability movement, in that they supported the industrial economy by providing a social center for new immigrants to acclimate to Cleveland. These institutions promote community health through public health education measures and they strengthen our neighborhoods.

Local Sustainability Network and Resources: Strong networks are already in place promoting sustainability in Cleveland, such as the Entrepreneurs for Sustainability. Grassroots groups like EcoCity Cleveland, Cleveland Green Building Coalition, and Green Energy Ohio are well established, while colleges and other institutions are leading the way locally in green building construction. Funders such as the Cleveland and George Gund Foundations are supporting sustainability projects; the Enterprise Foundation is taking the lead in building energy-efficient, green homes for low income families (Green Communities Initiative); and many advocacy groups promote sustainability, from bicycle advocacy to air quality and physical health to education. All of these local efforts are developing expertise and an information base that will help build a City sustainability program.

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This solar array is one element of the Cleveland Environmental Center's green building attributes. This 1918 bank building is the first commercial, historic green building retrofit project in Ohio and is a national model. [Ohio City neighborhood, photograph by David Beach]

Indeed, the Cleveland area can draw on a number of other academic resources, such as Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University, Baldwin Wallace, and Oberlin College, which are doing pioneering work in sustainability.

Local Models for Sustainable Neighborhood Development: Among the more impressive examples are the Cleveland EcoVillage which includes a broader EcoVillage Plan and EcoVation demonstration green homes; the Cleveland Environmental Center; and Slavic Village’s Greenway Plan. Also in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood, an exciting initiative know as the Active Living by Design Community Partnership program is demonstrating how fully developed, low-resource neighborhoods can be retrofitted and transformed into a more healthy place to live and work through a mix of physical projects, programs and policies that promote physical activity. Efforts such as these need to be commended and replicated throughout the City.

National Models: Much can be learned and borrowed from cities like Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Denver, and Santa Monica, which are leaders in the creation of sustainability initiatives.

Infrastructure and Land Use: Cleveland already has infrastructure and mixed-use land patterns in place that are sustainable. This form is even being copied by nearby suburban communities that want a mix of uses in a walkable, lively area (e.g. Crocker Park) with interesting architecture and stores coming right up to the sidewalk. From a developer’s point of view, we have the “main streets” (concentrated shopping and essential services) and the urban form (mixed-use business and residential areas) that provide the basis for “walkable” communities, allowing people to live, work and play within a walkable area. We can also work to create higher concentrations of residential around transit stops to create more dense, transit oriented neighborhoods (Transit Oriented Development) (See Car-Free In Cleveland, an EcoCity Cleveland 2000 publication). City Council has passed a number of more flexible ordinances (see Overview Section) to allow developments with less parking and the first official form-based zoning chapter to mandate mixed-use development in MidTown Cleveland.

Cleveland can better utilize municipal and private utilities (water, power, storm water control, etc.) to create sustainable infrastructure and streets. Sustainable street design concepts include planting trees, creating environments that are welcoming and safe for pedestrians and bicycles, improving storm water management practices, and installing more energy efficient lighting to name a few.

Natural Features: Cleveland is fortunate to be located on one of the largest bodies of freshwater in the world, Lake Erie. The lake has been instrumental in the transportation of goods and materials that fuel the City’s economy and is one of the largest sources of potable freshwater on the planet. The vastness of Lake Erie creates an environment that has a unique power of attraction and lends itself to a wide variety of water-related activities. It also provides important habitat and migration corridors for a stunning variety of birds and animals.

The Cuyahoga River and Valley are also important features that link Cleveland to many communities away from the lakeshore.

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Valuing and protecting our incredible natural resources needs to be prime focus in development and redevelopment in Cleveland. [Lake Erie]

The navigation channel, the more natural sections of the river and the valley hillsides create unique places that provide the opportunity for a variety of recreational experiences; while the various tributaries that flow from higher elevations to Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River create corridors that provide opportunities to connect city neighborhoods to the lakefront and river. The lakefront, hillsides along creek and river valleys, and the hillside of the Portage Escarpment offer excellent vistas of large parts of the city and Lake Erie. These views of expansive landscapes give residents a strong sense of connection to the larger community. As water quality has improved over the past decades, tributaries of the Cuyahoga are becoming repopulated with steelhead trout, distinguishing Cleveland as a nationally recognized fishing destination.

Cleveland benefits from the regional Metroparks system, an ‘Emerald Necklace’ of 16 reservations that cover 21,000 acres of land with an extensive network of nature education centers, golf courses, bicycle and walking trails, fishing, etc. Four parks sit within the City of Cleveland including the Big Creek valley, home to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, the Brookside Park, and portions of the Rocky River and Washington Reservations. The Washington Reservation is home to the First Tee Golf Course and a horticulture center that offers courses.

Another regional gem is the Ohio and Erie Canalway, a 110-mile heritage corridor that follows the Ohio & Erie Canal and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad connecting Cleveland to New Philadelphia. This National Heritage Area and National Byway system promotes its diverse landscapes from natural to urban, building off of natural beauty (e.g. the Cuyahoga Valley National Park) and history.

CHALLENGES

Cleveland faces a number of challenges in its efforts to create Sustainability that must be addressed.

Personnel Inadequate to Implement a Sustainability Program: Hiring additional City employees to implement a sustainability program may seem like an expense until we analyze the cost savings in operations citywide such a program will demonstrably generate over time. The City needs to dedicate more staff to implement sustainability initiatives and to write grants for additional funding opportunities.

Financial Resources Lacking to Advance Sustainability Efforts and Create Incentives: More money is needed for advancing sustainability initiatives such as brownfields clean-up and reuse, greenway development, and cash incentives for green building projects.

Sustainability a Low Priority: Cleveland is years behind leading cities in the sustainability movement. Serious efforts focusing on sustainability to help cut costs, lure companies to the region, and improve quality of life issues are long overdue and critical to the City's and the region's future competitiveness. An educational effort directed at private and public sector decision-makers, the City's youth, and taxpayers must be planned and initiated immediately.

Social Conditions: The quality of life in Cleveland is pivotal to luring new residents and businesses to the City and retaining current residents. This means addressing the education crisis in the City's public schools, segregation (Cleveland was the third-most segregated city in the country according to an analysis of the 2000 Census Bureau Report), slow economic growth, high levels of poverty and homelessness, and a depleted tax base.

Food: Rising fuel prices, less reliable fuel supplies, and climate change will necessitate a long-term shift to localized food systems. Integrating regional food security into a long-term economic development plan will ensure that adequate land resources are devoted to sustainable food production. Using vacant lots, rooftops, and even old buildings for agricultural production (e.g. aquaculture, vermiculture, greenhouse production, beekeeping) for urban agricultural production can provide a reliable source of fresh local food that minimizes distances traveled. Utilizing local fuel sources (e.g. biodiesel from waste grease or vegetable oils) and selecting natural building techniques (e.g. strawbale construction, earth plaster) can also provide new opportunities for local farmers while securing sustainable sources of energy and building materials.

Energy-Wasteful Construction Continues: Given the high percentage of Cleveland households that qualify as low-income and the rising cost of energy (up 50% in one year, 2004-5), it is irresponsible to continue to develop housing that is not energy-efficient. Regulations must be put in place that mandate high performance / green building, especially for all new construction and rehabilitation of low-income housing.

Air Quality and Environmental Degradation: In order to become more competitive nationally, we must comply with environmental standards for air and water quality. In an age where companies are free to locate anywhere, we must improve our environment and public health in order to lure companies and families to the region. If air quality is poor, resulting in non-attainment, economic development can be hindered because some industries will not be able to operate in the area.

Transportation: As fuel prices continue to increase, we must provide alternative, affordable options for our residents. Creating more compact, sustainable communities with a variety of transportation modes is a way to plan our communities around people rather than for our cars. We must provide transportation choices for our community that are bike and pedestrian friendly, that encourage mass transit and vehicle car pooling. We must begin to make choices favoring alternative technologies such as cleaner fuels and cleaner modes of transportation (like our existing shipping industry). And we must use our purchasing power to favor hybrid energy-efficient vehicles.

Although public transit is very costly and hard to 'justify' for a city of our size, poverty data must be taken into consideration, as low-income residents need an extensive public transportation system in order to have access to opportunities. More east-west connections and connections to the southeast of the City are needed to serve a greater portion of people in Cleveland.

State and Federal Policies: Many policies at the state and federal level do not favor older urban areas, instead promoting urban sprawl and transportation policies that encroach into diminishing open space and farmlands. This development pattern leads to urban disinvestment, costly maintenance of expansive infrastructure, and natural resource depletion. Ohio needs to follow the example of more progressive states like Maryland and Minnesota and adopt 'smart growth' initiatives that seek to re-invest in urban areas. And the federal government needs to lead the way by establishing controls on sprawl to help strengthen the sustainability of our country as a whole.

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

The larger goal of all activity in the area of Sustainability is to ensure the long-term environmental, economic and social viability of Cleveland and its region. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan proposes the following set of policies, each addressing a key issue, and strategies for implementation.

I) Sustainable Development Patterns. Create high-density, mixed-use districts that promote travel by transit, walking, and bicycling.

a. Support regional efforts to reduce suburban sprawl in order to strengthen and reinvest in the City of Cleveland and our urban core, while supporting farmland preservation and expansion efforts (e.g. the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy) and other land protection efforts (e.g. the Western Reserve Land Conservancy).

b. Engage in a sustainable development planning process to develop clear, useful guidelines, and provide technical assistance to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and private developers involved in neighborhood development projects.

c. Integrate sustainable design and construction practices and the use of eco-friendly materials into major infrastructure and neighborhood-scale redevelopment projects.

d. Support Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) initiatives that increase the density of housing along bus lines and near transit stops.

e. Improve public transit to provide a clean, convenient, and efficient alternative to automobile use.

f. Change traffic codes to be more pedestrian- and bike-friendly and create safe bike routes connecting residents to amenities and other key destinations.

g. Partner with other public and private entities to develop a sustainable design resource center.

2. Sustainable Neighborhoods. Develop “full life-cycle neighborhoods” that provide housing and services for residents of all ages and incomes, with a healthy living environment and convenient access to jobs, shopping and recreation.

a. Ensure that residents can meet their basic needs by providing: affordable housing to meet the needs of all ages, incomes, and special needs; access to affordable health care; employment and income to support individuals and families; safe communities and work places; and access to locally produced, affordable food.

• Provide basic needs services within walking or cycling distance of residents (e.g. grocery stores and community gardens).

b. Ensure that residents can advance themselves through: access to a variety of local and/or regional jobs; through advanced education opportunities; through affordable recreation, leisure or cultural facilities and programs; through opportunities for cultural and artistic expression; and through opportunities to promote health and well-being.

• Retrofit and transform built-out, low-resource neighborhoods through physical projects, programs and policies that promote physical activity and access to nutritious food, by following the example of the Slavic Village neighborhoods' Active Living by Design Community Partnership program.
• Encourage residents to lead healthier lifestyles through exercise, community involvement, and by taking advantage of educational opportunities in the community

to learn about obesity and other health risks.

• Develop increased access to electronic communications to address the digital divide.

c. Ensure that residents have opportunities to participate in social or community activities to improve quality of life by encouraging: community economic development; embracing diverse communities; involvement in public processes; by providing opportunities for social community interaction and access to arts, cultural and community activities; and support of local community organizations and networks.

• Incorporate environmental and sustainability interests into community organizing and neighborhood planning efforts.
• Encourage participation in block clubs and neighborhood watch programs to increase public safety and to assist community members in taking ownership of their neighborhood.
• Promoting community gardens, youth gardens, and urban market gardens in neighborhoods to provide a source of supplemental income, greenspace, more accessible fresh affordable foods, and to enhance social networks and community.
• Encourage transit use to improve quality of life by cutting household transportation expenses while reducing the impacts of pollution on public health and the environment.
• Examine existing City programs to determine whether they support, or work against, the goal of creating full life-cycle neighborhoods, and make any necessary modifications.

d. Ensure that minority and low-income populations are not disproportionately affected by adverse human health or environmental conditions.

• Use information related to environmental and human health risks and ensure that local programs, policies or activities have not unfairly affected minority or low-income populations.
• Ensure that communities and neighborhoods have a strong voice in environmental decision-making and problem solving and build capacity for constructive engagement and problem-solving.
• Receive full protection from existing environmental rules and regulations by ensuring that all permitted facilities in a neighborhood are in compliance with their environmental permits.
• Conduct enhanced review of any new or expanding air or water emissions, or solid or hazardous waste facilities.

3. Sustainable Economy. Ensure that economic development and job training in the Cleveland region keep pace with national trends and emerging opportunities in order to provide jobs for current and future residents.

a. Foster relationships between industry and environmental interests to maintain Cleveland's industrial health while incorporating sustainable business practices.

b. Create environmentally sustainable developments, such as eco-industrial parks or zero waste businesses, where networks of firms exchange products and by-products to optimize economic, employment and environmental objectives. What is waste for one company may be a raw material and revenue for another.

c. Foster the growth of businesses and industries that are developing or manufacturing technology, products or materials for high performance / green building, ecologically responsible waste disposal or recycling, local food, and clean energy production. * Provide incentives to encourage sustainably-minded businesses to locate in Cleveland, and commend existing companies that follow pollution prevention and product stewardship practices. * Improve the capacity to store and process locally grown foods to encourage the development of food-related businesses, which provides basic entrepreneurial training, creates new markets for local farmers, and captures more value from food than is currently purchased from outside of the region. * Foster growth of the deconstruction industry in Cleveland, the recovery of salvageable building materials for reuse or resale to the green/sustainable construction marketplace.

d. Ensure that the Cleveland public schools are providing children with the skills and resources that will enable them to pursue advanced education or become gainfully employed in today’s marketplace.

e. Encourage the efficient use of resources by adopting sustainable business practices for businesses, organizations and local governmental agencies in Cleveland. * Reduce consumption of resources by City agencies in order to save money and reduce disposal costs. * Utilize local food production as an opportunity to teach basic entrepreneurial skills and sustainable business practices to urban residents. * Develop a plan to increase adoption of sustainable practices by Cleveland businesses including the production of a resource guide.

f. Use the City’s purchasing power to support the local economy, the public health and the environment, and encourage other entities to the do the same. * Reduce City purchasing of products that may be harmful to public health or the environment and, where possible, seek less harmful substitutes (e.g. purchase wood products from sustainably managed forests and recycled-content paper). * Purchase more products and food from local and regional companies. * Work with local economic development groups to map the locations of local suppliers and distribute that information to encourage the purchase of local materials. * Encourage local businesses such as restaurants, schools, groceries, farmers markets, and convenience stores to purchase fresh, locally-produced, organic produce. * Consider human health and environmental impacts when the City makes planning, contracting, purchasing, or operating decisions.

See the Economic Development chapter for more policies and strategies.

4. Sustainable Development Practices. Ensure that land is used in a manner that preserves and expands valuable open space, protects natural habitats, retains and replaces trees, prevents environmental contamination, and protects sensitive lands.

a. Develop and maintain a comprehensive open space system that protects the natural environment while providing passive and active recreation opportunities, which is equitably distributed throughout the community.

• Create a long-range open space plan for open space and habitat preservation and restoration that identifies opportunities, sets priorities and details acquisition and management strategies.
• Create a new land conservancy or land trust, or expand an existing group to hold property for open space projects.
• Actively solicit donations of property or easements to protect and enhance identified resources.

b. Develop neighborhood level plans centered on restoring the function and aesthetics of natural features and highlight them as amenities for neighborhood preservation and restoration. * Ensure that neighborhood master plans and other planning efforts include preservation and enhancement of significant natural and scenic resources. * Incorporate new fish and wildlife habitat elements into park plans and landscaping. * Include noise reduction as a major goal in neighborhood planning efforts. * Encourage the incorporation of low impact development features into new development proposals. * Include water and habitat quality improvements as part of any water related (rivers, lakes, streams) recommendations. * Promote existing neighborhood greening efforts like the Broadway Greenway Plan, which advocates the creation of multi-modal routes linking neighborhood parks to public open space, neighborhood assets, and the regional Towpath hiking trail system.

c. Protect natural areas characterized by stream valleys, stream valleys / riparian areas, wetlands, hillsides, forests and other environmentally sensitive and valuable features. * Support preservation of regional habitat and biodiversity by promoting land use patterns that encourage growth within the City rather than in undeveloped areas. * Encourage preservation and maintenance of existing natural habitat in new development or redevelopment projects and require mitigation if damage is unavoidable. * Encourage the use of greenspace protection tools, such as conservation easements, and adopt ordinances that will assist in achieving preservation goals. * Protect natural resources from sediment and other forms of pollution through use of vegetation, erosion control measures during construction, settling ponds and other structural and non-structural means. * Correct lakefront and riverfront erosion conditions where it is in the public interest to do so. * Protect land from changes that would make it unsafe or unsightly (e.g. excavation, quarrying). * Establish policies regarding the appropriateness of “fill” (using earth to build up the level of low-lying land). * When and if filling is approved, require the highest engineering standards to ensure safety and consistency with the future use of that property. * Protect recreation and open spaces by making them permanent. * Analyze existing recreation and open space for use and access by residents and appropriateness for rezoning as an Open Space & Recreation (OSR) Zoning District (Chapter 342 of zoning code). * Reserve land for either temporary and permanent community gardens or urban market gardens in every neighborhood throughout the City.

o Protect and retain trees of significant historical, cultural, horticultural, environmental, and aesthetic value.

• Add City staff to handle review of areas deemed critically sensitive.

d. Improve the quality of existing open space and natural features including restoring their natural functions to lessen the negative impact of human development on the local ecosystem.

• Protect and improve the quality of street trees, landscaped areas, urban forests and wildlife habitats within Cleveland, in order to maximize their environmental and aesthetic benefits.
  • Consider the value of the functions trees provide (wildlife habitat, property value enhancement, open space enjoyment, soil stabilization and greenhouse effect mitigation) in decisions related to infrastructure and development / redevelopment projects.
  • Restore natural function to the Lake Erie shoreline.
  • Improve and make urban cemeteries more usable and active.
• Maximize public access to the lakefront, riverfront and stream valleys, including safe and convenient access from nearby neighborhoods for pedestrians and bicyclists.
• Raise the importance of local restoration projects such as those for Doan Brook, Big Creek, Mill Creek, and Euclid Creek.

e. Acquire additional open space in underserved areas and increase vegetative cover in the City to help decrease the urban heat island effect caused by impermeable surfaces.

• Support the acquisition of, and assist in the assembly of, land that will expand greenspace opportunities in the City.
  • Aggregate underutilized and/or vacant land for neighborhood green spaces (e.g. new parks, community gardens, desalinization gardens, and wetlands).
  • Improve and expand publicly accessible recreation sites and greenways along the lakefront and other waterways such as Doan Brook, Treadway Creek, Big Creek, Mill Creek and Euclid Creek.
  • Increase staff and funding allocated for greenway restoration projects.
• Consider development of an urban forest management plan that establishes goals for tree planting, maintenance and greenbelt restoration and identifies priority actions to improve the number of healthy trees.
• Expand land dedicated to urban agriculture (e.g. community gardens) to increase local food production and to support community building and nutrition education.
  • Encourage the utilization of vacant land and rooftops within the city for market garden or agricultural production.
  • Partner with local organizations groups like City Fresh part of the New Agrarian Center to promote access to local food systems.
  • Purchase local produce for the Cleveland City Hall cafeteria and encourage other institutions to do the same (e.g. medical and research facilities, schools, and colleges).
• Utilize green technology (e.g. green roofs, permeable pavement, bioretention cells, and pocket wetlands) to help decrease urban heat island effect, to lower energy costs, and to incorporate water quality features.
  • Promote existing green roof projects (e.g. the Cleveland Environmental Center, several Cleveland Division of Water facilities like the Baldwin covered reservoir, and the Convention Center green roof) and local green roof installation companies (e.g. The Garland Company).

o Encourage the City of Cleveland to promote green roof technology by installing them on City buildings where appropriate.

f. Manage City operations in ways that work with natural systems to minimize negative impacts to the environment and reduce costs to the City. * Design, construct and operate all City facilities to limit environmental impacts through energy efficiency, water conservation, waste minimization, pollution prevention and/or resource efficient materials. * Planning, contracting, purchasing, and operating decisions should consider the environmental and economic costs and should include the suppliers’ commitment to protecting the environment. * On City property, cultivate ecosystems that encourage native wildlife. * Use regionally appropriate plants (native species) on all City property to reduce maintenance costs and to create native habitats supportive to local wildlife and resistant to local insects, diseases and climate conditions. * Monitor the use of native and non-native plants on new or replaced public landscaped areas and non-recreational turf areas. * Utilize local resources to gather and distribute information about native plant species (e.g. Cleveland Natural History Museum, Holden Arboretum, Big Creek initiative website). * Encourage the development of small-scale horticultural enterprises to propagate native plants that can be utilized for native vegetation and habitat restoration initiatives.

g. Expand public/private partnerships to more effectively involve citizens and non-governmental organizations in the care and enhancement of habitat for native plants and wildlife. * Engage organizations like the Wildlife Habitat Council (works with private businesses to protect, restore and manage natural areas on private property) to expand their presence in Cleveland. * Coordinate with local, state and federal regulatory agencies to address proposed developments within natural resource areas. * Continue and expand cooperative relationships with regulatory and local non-profit agencies to promote environmental stewardship. * Involve citizens, community groups and non-profit organizations in the care and enhancement of urban forests and wildlife habitat. * Allow for Adopt-A-groups, other community groups and volunteers to clean up and maintain streets, parks, streams, etc.

h. Educate property owners, residents and City personnel on water quality best management practices (BMPs) that reduce negative environmental impacts. * Map all parks, “green” projects, outdoor recreation opportunities and natural assets and distribute widely as a regional branding/marketing tool. * Improve City’s role in public environmental education and provide opportunities for public involvement in recreation management and maintenance. * Educate employees about environmental impacts through training in environmental stewardship programs at community and recreation centers.

See the Recreation & Open Space chapter for more policies and strategies specific to recreation and the waterfront.

5. High Performance / Green Building. Amend building and zoning codes and add financial incentives to encourage high performance “green building” that conserves resources and creates more healthful living and working environments.

a. Ensure that City policies and codes allow high performance building to proceed with same ease as other new construction and rehabilitation projects. (Seattle’s Sustainable Building Policy is a good model.)

• Create high performance building design and construction guidelines for the City of Cleveland.
• Train City staff to provide high performance building technical assistance to developers and the public.

b. Develop a high performance building rating system in Cleveland for a variety of building types, including commercial, residential, and affordable housing.

• Develop a high performance building policy and requirements for all City-owned and funded construction projects; set goals and timelines for what percentage of new construction must be green.
• Develop a high performance rating system, administrative rules, project tracking, criteria, outreach and marketing.
• Conduct research on barriers to high performance building in Cleveland and develop tools to remove impediments.

c. Create incentives and subsidies to encourage developers to build high performance.

• Provide residential and commercial incentives by creating City programs that provide homeowners and developers with grants or rebates for new construction and major remodeling projects that meet high performance guidelines as defined by the City.
• Offer a combination of technical assistance, grants, low-interest loans, and discounted energy audits.
• Follow the example set by the cities of Shaker Heights and Lakewood.

d. Educate officials, City staff, developers, private and public sector decision makers, and the general public about the reasons for, and benefits of, high performance building.

• Develop materials (e.g. brochures, fact sheets, newsletters, event displays) and a marketing campaign to promote high performance building principles and technology in Cleveland.
  • Develop a web site that contains information on City programs, guidelines, incentives, case studies, emerging technologies, and links related to high performance building.
  • Develop and deliver high performance building-related training and workshop curriculum.
  • Encourage local purchase of all materials (within 500 miles of the City).
  • Arrange for local high performance buildings to be featured in case studies, home tours and other education and outreach initiatives.
  • Evaluate current projects to see how well they meet high performance building goals in the City.

6. Nonmotorized Travel. Design and develop safe routes for walking and bicycling, accessible to all residents, in order to reduce automobile dependency, improve health, and reduce the cost of travel.

a. Modify traffic codes and adopt street design standards that are bike- and pedestrian-friendly, and adopt standards and requirements for the design of trails and bike improvements for roadways in keeping with the American Association of State and Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards.

b. Require that pedestrians and bicyclists are accommodated in all roadway and capital improvement projects; allocate a portion of City roadway improvement money for bike and pedestrian enhancements.

c. Create a comprehensive network of bicycle routes, bicycle lanes and multi-purpose trails that safely link neighborhoods to recreation sites, schools, shopping areas, places of employment and other destinations throughout the City and region.

• Evaluate Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) property, railroad property and underutilized rights-of-way for use as potential trail routes.
• Develop and expand continuous trails along waterways as part of broader greenway corridors.
• Coordinate bikeway planning with adjacent communities and the Cleveland Metroparks.
• Improve coordination of mass transit facilities, routes and bicycle amenities throughout the City.

d. Develop incentives and accommodations to encourage employees of the City, other public agencies and private industry to commute to work on foot or by bicycle.

• Create car-free districts and pedestrian-friendly streets, and designate special areas and times for minimal automobile use.
• Provide bicycle racks, benches, water fountains and other amenities to encourage bicycling and pedestrian travel throughout the City.
• Establish secure bicycle parking throughout the City and support the City Racks / City Seats program to install ~500 bike racks and ~200 benches in Cleveland.
• Create a centralized downtown bike station providing services for bicycle commuters, such as secure bicycle parking and showers (e.g. Chicago’s Millennium Park Bike Station).
• Reduce City employee work trips by encouraging walking and biking to meetings instead of driving fleet cars.
• Consider implementing bike parking requirements in Cleveland’s zoning code for new buildings and developments.
• Design bicycle and pedestrian amenities as public art.

e. Improve pedestrian and bicycle safety and access throughout the City.

• Improve crosswalk safety by consolidating crosswalks, signal, and transit stop locations for safety and convenience.
• Improve the aesthetic experience for pedestrians by designing wider sidewalks where appropriate, and using materials and treatments that invite pedestrian activity.
• Develop ‘Safe Routes to Schools’ programs in all neighborhoods to improve safety conditions for children walking and biking to school.
• Identify and reduce road hazards and barriers to bicyclists (e.g. potholes, glass, and sewer grates).
• Increase driver awareness of bicyclists and pedestrians through education and marketing, and promote local and national programs.

• Use educational programs within the police department, schools and other agencies to teach children and adults, cyclists and motorists to safely share the roads and trails.

f. Increase community interaction through ‘street reclaiming’ to increasing social, cultural, recreational and economic activity in neighborhood streets.

• Promote block club activity and neighborhood parties and festivals.
• Incorporate benches, art displays and other design features to encourage community interaction on sidewalks and front lawns.

g. Market walking and bicycling as a way to reduce household costs and to improve health and the environment for Clevelanders.

• Develop a City Bikeway Map, safety brochure and other bicycle publications that are regularly updated.
• Promote bike-to-work programs and bike advocacy groups such as Ohio City Bike Co-op and ClevelandBikes!.

See the Recreation & Open Space chapter and the Bikeway Master Plan for more policies and strategies.

7) Motorized Travel. Continue to upgrade current bus fleets with cleaner-burning vehicles, and accelerate the replacement of vehicles in government and corporate fleets with more fuel-efficient and cleaner-burning vehicles.

a. Increase investment in and support clean fleet programs, including clean buses to improve air quality, public health, and ridership.

• Support City efforts to purchase energy efficient, hybrid vehicles.
• Support City’s 2006 Anti-Idling Policy, to eliminate unnecessary idling of city vehicles as a way to reduce fuel consumption and harmful carbon emissions.
• Support the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) clean bus fleet initiative and encourage more bus and transit improvements.
• Expand the use of biofuels (e.g. ethanol, biodiesel) in City vehicles.
• Increase the use of fuel-efficient and alternative fuel engines like mopeds, motor scooters and motorcycles, and provide adequate facilities (e.g. parking spaces).

b. Decrease automobile use in the City.

• Support car-sharing programs and reduce the percentage of City employees driving to work alone.
• Reduce the amount of fuel used by City employees for work trips by reimbursing them for using transit instead of City fleet cars.
• Create and publicize park-and-ride lots near transit stations.
• Implement a citywide transportation plan and make recommendations for new bus routes or facilities and priorities for investment (Transportation Development Opportunities).

c. Manage traffic and design transportation facilities in such a way as to enhance neighborhood aesthetics and quality of life.

• Develop roads that provide direct truck access between freeways and industrial areas and, whenever possible, divert cars and trucks from residential neighborhoods onto major streets and nonresidential streets.
• Use traffic-calming and other design features to enhance neighborhood livability.

• Preserve natural geography and protect views, historical sites and archaeological resources when designing transportation facilities.
• Encourage the use of sustainable design and construction practices in major local and regional transportation infrastructure improvements.

8. Mass Transit. Increase use of mass transit through such initiatives as employer incentives, park-and-ride lots, and transit-oriented development projects.

a. Increase investments in and support clean public transportation, including modern commuter trains to improve air quality, public health, and ridership.

• Continue to develop relationships between the City of Cleveland and local and regional transportation agencies to increase public transit opportunities and awareness; and work with other agencies to create multi-modal hubs.
• Implement a citywide transit plan and make recommendations for new transit routes or facilities and priorities for investment (Transit Development Opportunities).

b. Create incentives to encourage transit use and reduce driving.

• Promote GCRTA’s Commuter Advantage Program offering discounts on public transportation fares.
• Educate the public about the benefits of mass transit versus the automobile.
• Create faster and more comfortable transit service, and improve rider information and marketing plans.

c. Utilize transit stations as catalysts for creating dense, attractive, compact, livable and walkable neighborhoods (Transit-Oriented Development).

• Increase the density of housing near transit facilities, along bus lines and within mixed-use retail corridors.
• Encourage a mix of compatible land uses at transit stations designated on the Transit Opportunities list.

9. Energy Conservation. Reduce use of energy and water in City-owned facilities and vehicles and encourage similar practices by residents, businesses and other organizations.

a. Establish Cleveland as a national model for energy management and efficiency in all City facilities and operations, and encourage similar practices by residents, businesses, and other organizations.

• Conduct an energy audit of all City-owned facilities to gather information about their use of, and expenditures on, electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and gasoline.
• Establish efficiency standards and an energy reduction challenge for all City departments, and provide the tools and information needed to identify opportunities to reduce City greenhouse gas emissions in decisions on purchasing, operations and construction.
  • Purchase only the most energy-efficient appliances (e.g. air conditioners, refrigerators, copy machines, computers, and automobiles) that use cleaner fuels (e.g. biodiesel).
  • Convert all traffic lights to light-emitting diodes (LED), which are less expensive to use and last 10 times longer than conventional fixtures.
  • Encourage the use of non-automotive transportation by City employees and the public.
  • Encourage land use patterns and methods of transportation that use less energy.

• Install green roof technology on City Hall and other City buildings to increase energy efficiency and reduce replacement costs, as green roofs can last twice as long as conventional roofs.
• Plant trees as a way to reduce heating and cooling costs (e.g. strategically plant deciduous trees to block summer heat, and when leaves drop sunlight warms buildings in winter months; or plant evergreen trees to block cold winter winds).
• Develop and promulgate a local action plan for reducing Cleveland’s contribution to global warming, and disseminate information (through public meetings, printed materials, the City’s web site and the media).
  • Show local residents and businesses how to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and how to identify potential reduction opportunities.

b. Promote energy conservation through City programs and projects for residential, commercial and wholesale City customers.

• Require landlords and homeowners receiving City tax abatement to purchase only appliances meeting Energy Star efficiency standards.
• Make housing rehabilitation the official City preference, whenever possible, over demolition and new construction, as utilizing existing housing uses less energy and resources and recognizes the superior construction methods/materials of older housing stock.
• Create or expand programs, such as the City's low-income and multi-family housing weatherization program, to help lower energy bills for low-income residents through improved energy efficiency in homes.
  • Partner with local utilities and the State to assist multi-family property owners in getting energy audits; create a marketing campaign (direct mailings, advertisements in multi-family housing publications and tradeshows) to get homes insulated and weatherized through these partnerships.
  • Provide residential customers of CPP/FirstEnergy with technical assistance and incentives for energy efficiency improvements.
  • Utilize local/national foundations to help provide funding for energy-efficient apartment projects.

c. Improve the economic vitality of commerce and industry in Cleveland by promoting effective energy management practices.

• Provide local businesses with the tools to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and potential reduction opportunities.
• Provide technical assistance/utility coordination and incentives to small commercial and larger commercial/industrial customers (through CPP/FirstEnergy) for energy efficiency improvements.
• Encourage the purchase of energy-efficient appliances and cars.

d. Restructure Cleveland Public Power to be a provider of energy services rather than a delivery company for kilowatt-hours of electricity.

10. Renewable Energy. Promote use of solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy resources.

a. The City should take a leadership role in encouraging local electricity suppliers and the general public to use local, non-polluting, renewable energy and to recycle energy and fuels through education and outreach.

b. Work to eliminate the use of fossil fuel-burning sources of electric power for City operations by purchasing alternative energy sources.

c. Set goals for decreasing the use of fossil fuels, and promote use of alternative fuels, in vehicles and equipment owned by the City, transit or fleet operators, and the public.

d. Ensure that businesses have the ability to purchase at least part of their electricity from renewable sources.

e. Provide incentives to encourage local residential, commercial and industrial consumers to manufacture, purchase, and install renewable energy systems.

11. Brownfield Remediation. Clean contaminated “brownfield” sites and promote beneficial re-use through regulatory action and increased funding to improve Cleveland’s environmental and economic health.

a. Increase support and funding for the City’s Industrial Landbank Program which is intended to return brownfields to productive use by prioritizing, assembling and rehabilitating the properties.

b. Promote the participation of non-profit community development organizations in the development of brownfields to encourage development that meets community needs.

c. Promote community involvement in the planning and implementation of redeveloping brownfields.

d. Promote the protection of public health and the environment in developing brownfields.

• Promote cleaner re-use of cleaned land by requiring new buildings to meet and exceedgreen / high performance building standards aimed at restoring environmental conditions and encourage healthy living and working environments.

12. Recycling and Waste Management. Reduce waste disposal through municipal curbside recycling and programs for recycling tires, motor oil, yard waste, electronic equipment, demolition debris, and roadway materials, as well as by encouraging consumers to make choices that are less wasteful of resources.

a. Decrease overall community consumption by purchasing materials in bulk whenever possible to avoid wasteful individually-packaged products.

b. Minimize the quantity and toxicity of solid waste generated from City facilities and operations through waste reduction, reuse and recycling.

• Work with all City departments and their contractors to improve and expand recycling and waste reduction efforts (e.g. direct all City departments and their contractors to set an example by purchasing only sustainable materials like recycled paper).
• Measure the volume and toxicity of hazardous material purchased by the City and take steps to reduce the use of such materials.

• Include language in construction request for bids and proposals requiring recycling and waste reduction, and during construction projects through reuse and grinding of materials onsite.

c. Control illegal disposal and eliminate land disposal of untreated waste. * Reduce illegal dumping and nuisance problems by coordinating collection of large items with haulers and scrap metal recyclers in targeted neighborhoods. * Consider increasing dumping and landfill fees regionally to make recycling of materials a more economically viable alternative. * Consider charging a franchise or tonnage fee for all land disposal that would be used to help fund residential solid-waste, recycling and green / high performance building programs. * Ensure the City’s capability to respond quickly to reported violations.

d. Improve and expand residential and commercial waste reduction, reuse and recycling. * Make recycling as easy as possible for residents and businesses. * Improve the design of recycling receptacles for ease of use, and as funds become available reinstitute the curbside recycling program. * Expand the recycling program to include yard debris service and leaf pick-up citywide with opportunities to compost food waste. * Aggressively promote residential and commercial recycling through education and outreach programs (e.g. at schools, recreation centers, public events, etc.). * Expand consumer education programs designed to increase awareness and teach residents the basics of composting and other practices that help reduce solid waste disposal. * Promote the City’s newest Commercial Recycling Program by getting large commercial operators and multifamily buildings to use the free recycling containers provided by the City. * Provide recycling assistance to multi-family housing complexes and consider installing recycling receptacles that are easily accessible and user-friendly. * Encourage the establishment of new businesses promoting alternative means of waste reduction (e.g. composting, vermiculture). * Create a commercial food-waste collection and processing business to divert that type of waste from landfills. * Explore and evaluate new recycling markets for additional types of materials (e.g. plastics, computers and other electronic equipment).

e. City departments and contractors shall divert as much construction and demolition (C&D) debris from landfills as possible through waste reduction, reuse and recycling. * Require City departments to follow the lead of the Division of Waters’ Construction and Demolition Waste reduction ordinance, requiring that 50% of C&D waste be recycled or reused (Ordinance C-57, Construction and Demolition Waste). * Consider creating financial incentives to encourage waste haulers to increase their diversion of C&D material from landfills.

f. Support deconstruction (the recovery of salvageable building materials for reuse or resale) during remodeling and demolition projects conducted by the City, unless the building must be demolished or repaired quickly for health or safety reasons. * Create an ordinance mandating deconstruction, whenever possible, over demolition.

• Promote deconstruction as a viable means of generating economic development by creating jobs in low-income neighborhoods, reducing waste disposal costs and offering new business opportunities such as a materials resale warehouse (e.g. Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore).
• Provide informational brochures about deconstruction and salvage options to all citizens applying for building demolition or remodeling permits.
• Foster partnerships between the local demolition and deconstruction industries so that recovery and reuse of building materials can be maximized in a manner that is profitable for both.
• Work with local builders to develop guidelines and procedures designed to increase C&D recycling and expand the deconstruction market in Cleveland. (See Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Districts’ Construction Debris resources.)

13) Water Quality. Improve regional water quality by better managing storm water runoff, strictly enforcing emission controls, reducing use of harmful lawn-care chemicals, and restoring urban streams and rivers.

a. Support regional sprawl management initiatives aimed at reducing automobile use and other factors contributing to water pollution.

b. Support Northeast Ohio Regional Storm Water task force recommendations for consistent and prescriptive storm water ordinances in the region.

c. Support the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) plan addressing Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) events so as to reduce the amount of untreated wastewater being released into water resources.

d. Coordinate major development projects with County and suburban governments to reduce sewer overload impacts.

e. Work regionally to improve programs and management strategies designed to prevent and reduce contamination of street runoff and storm water from all sources and encourage appropriate post construction best management practices (BMPs) based on site and soil conditions to improve water quality.

• Study the feasibility of establishing a regional Storm Water Authority to solely address storm water issues related to impervious surfaces (e.g. surface parking lots).
• Identify and disseminate BMPs and establish policies that facilitate effective management of both the quantity and quality of storm water runoff caused by land development.
  • Encourage organic gardening techniques in park/cemetery/vacant land maintenance, and plant low maintenance native plant species to decrease water use and pesticide runoff.
  • Implement innovative storm water quality and quantity management techniques like bioretention cells, pocket wetlands, enhanced water quality swales, water quality filter strips, tree box filters and storm water ponds to filter and reduce storm water quantity.
• Limit nonpoint source pollution that comes from diffuse land use sources (e.g. salts, sediments and chemicals) carried to lakes and streams by surface runoff.
  • Investigate banning the use of pesticides on all public property (following the example Cleveland Heights set in 1995).

o Educate landowners about alternatives to pesticides and herbicides (e.g. natural / organic lawn care techniques) and create incentives to encourage use of alternatives.

• Work with businesses and the community to provide education about the importance of, and methods for, controlling the release of all contaminants into storm drains.

e. Control storage, manufacture, transportation, use and disposal of hazardous substances, especially in areas with sensitive aquatic ecosystems, such as the Cuyahoga River Valley and Lake Erie watersheds.

f. Cooperate and coordinate efforts with state and federal agencies to minimize illegal discharges into water from both permitted and non-permitted sources.

g. Promote non-polluting recreational uses of Lake Erie and other fresh water resources in the area.

h. Promote water efficiency through programs and projects designed for water customers.

• Set goals for reducing water use by all regional consumers.
• Set up a “rain barrel” program to inform the public about the cost savings and other benefits of collecting rainwater from rooftop runoff (e.g. for garden irrigation).

i. Implement exemplary water efficiency measures in all City facilities and operations and urge the Greater Cleveland community to use similar practices.

• Install more efficient technologies, such as low-flow water fixtures, in City buildings.
• Install computerized irrigation systems in City parks.
• Decrease the overall community consumption of non-local, non-recyclable, non-recycled water.

j. Conserve significant wetlands, riparian areas and bodies of water for the purpose of containing and regulating storm water runoff, to prevent flooding, to provide sediment and erosion control to improve overall water quality.

• Create a comprehensive drainage plan to identify priority actions to improve water quality, drainage and aquatic habitat.
• Regulate development within identified drainageways, water bodies, riparian areas and wetlands by passing riparian and wetland setback ordinances.
• Restore natural drainage systems and urban streams in neighborhoods.
• Create manuals for landowners and developers on installing natural drainage systems.

14. Air Quality. Improve regional air quality by strictly enforcing emission controls, increasing alternative energy production, and promoting the use of mass transit, nonmotorized travel, and cleaner-powered vehicles.

a. Work to calculate and reduce Cleveland’s carbon footprint to fulfill goals of the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement signed on July 3, 2006, which follows the example set by over 200 U.S. cities that support the Kyoto Protocol (a United Nations pact to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases in order to improve air quality and address climate change concerns) and develop financial incentives for City staff and citizens to achieve reductions in the City’s carbon emissions.

b. Ensure that air quality in Cleveland meets state and federal air quality standards.

• Implement a climate protection plan with goals and strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions citywide.

c. Promote the development of non-polluting industries and work with existing industries to help them comply with established industrial emission control regulations.

d. Encourage greater use of transit and transit oriented design. * Support the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) clean bus fleet initiative.

e. Reduce the use of fossil fuels in automobiles and trucks. * Promote the use of clean-burning, alternative-fueled vehicles by large fleet operators, transit operators and the public as a way to reduce impacts on air quality. * Encourage the location of a biodiesel production facility here. * Promote the use of alternative modes of transportation such as carpooling, bicycling, walking and transit as a means to improve air quality. * Actively discourage the wasteful practice of vehicle idling; support the City’s 2006 Anti-Idling Policy, which eliminates unnecessary idling of City vehicles as a way to reduce fuel consumption and harmful carbon emissions.

f. Reduce and eventually eliminate the use of fossil fuel-burning sources of electric power. * Purchase energy generated from alternative sources such as wind or geothermal power. * Implement energy conservation strategies in all City-owned facilities and operations.

g. Improve indoor air quality in all renovation and new construction projects by utilizing high performance / green building techniques in City-owned facilities and in private construction.

h. Protect existing greenspace and increase vegetation citywide to help offset the release of greenhouse gases. * Promote green roof tops as a way to increase vegetation, lead by example and install a green roof on City Hall.

i. Expand consumer education programs to increase the public’s awareness and understanding of air quality issues. (See the American Lung Association’s Web site on air quality issues.)

j. Ensure that no one geographic area or socioeconomic group in the city is being unfairly impacted by air pollution.

ARTS & CULTURE

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Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

ARTS & CULTURE

OVERVIEW

The arts contribute to quality of life by making communities more livable. They help to define a sense of identity, a sense of place, and they serve as a vehicle for the preservation and transmission of culture. The arts help to form an educated and aware public by promoting understanding in a diverse society and by promoting inquisitive thought and the open exchange of ideas and values. The arts can encourage an individual's creativity and the generation of new ideas. They play a vital role in the development of desirable products and increasing available choices, whether it is types of housing or leisure activities. Release, relaxation, entertainment and spiritual uplifting are all benefits of the arts.

Creating Distinctive Places: Arts and culture are keys to making the Cleveland area an interesting and attractive place to live, work, and recreate. They are a key component for attracting creative and entrepreneurial individuals from across the region and the nation. Arts and culture provide important insights that affect the details of design and result in great architecture, landscapes and public improvements. In addition to shaping the physical form of a place, arts and culture play an important role in creating a social connection between people and the place through interpretation of its natural features, history, and meanings and the telling of its stories.

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Art can reinforce the story and meaning of a place. [Mill Creek Waterfall]

The Arts as an Economic Engine: A healthy and stable arts and cultural sector is a cornerstone for the region's continued economic and social vitality. The arts contribute more than $1.3 billion annually to the regional economy and arts and cultural institutions have brought Cleveland national and worldwide recognition. It is estimated that 25 percent of visitors to Northeast Ohio arts and cultural assets come from outside the seven-county region. The Cleveland Orchestra is world renowned, and Playhouse Square boasts the largest concentration of theatres between New York and Chicago. Historically, artists have been heavily integrated into the business fabric of the community: Companies specializing in lithography, engraving, publishing, ceramics, furniture, textiles, etc., have all employed artists in the development of their products. Today the Cleveland Institute of Art educates students for jobs in fields such as industrial design, graphic design, science and biomedical communications and digital art.

Creative Thought and Innovation: Data from the College Entrance Examination Board show that students who take four years or more of arts and music classes in high school score 90 to 100 points better on their SAT than students who took only one-half year or less. The ability to think critically, creatively, and innovatively are all benefits of exposure to the arts. These skills will become more important for securing a prosperous economic future as more jobs for unskilled and low-skilled labor are relocated outside of the United States.

TRENDS

Several trends emerge that give a clearer picture of the challenge before us, and may also suggest areas of greatest vulnerability (or opportunity), where connections with appropriate community assets could be helpful:

• Public Involvement in the Arts: Nationally, attendance at live performances has seen an increase, but it has not grown as much as the market for recorded and broadcast performances has. A Rand Corporation report attributes the increase in population growth, not in the percentage of the population that attends live performances. Cleveland’s lack of population growth makes generating increased attendance for arts programs more difficult.

• Competition: Americans are placing a premium on flexibility of their time and favor experiences that allow them to choose when and where. Younger generations, which are more technologically savvy, appear to be more comfortable with entertainment provided through the Internet and other emerging technologies and could be less inclined to attend live performances. The improved quality of electronically reproduced entertainment, the rising cost of attending live performances and an increased desire among Americans for home-based leisure activities are other factors that favor media-delivered entertainment. In addition, the fact that the arts are no longer an integral part of most students’ curriculum means that several generations of Americans and Clevelanders have now graduated with no background in the arts and no preparation to enjoy them.

• The Future of Arts Organizations: The Rand Corporation’s research forecasts that the performing arts world will be divided into big organizations and smaller-scale operations, and those that cater to a broad public versus niche markets. Big organizations will rely increasingly on mass advertising and celebrity to attract large audiences, while small organizations will have to become more dynamic and more diverse, focusing on low-budget, low-tech productions and relying heavily on volunteer labor. Many will cater to local and specialized markets, particularly ethno-cultural communities. It is the mid-size organizations, however, that will face the biggest challenge: As they continue to be squeezed financially, they will need to become either larger and more prestigious or smaller and more community-oriented. As many of these organizations are forced to scale down their budgets and aspirations, talented newcomers will need to look elsewhere for opportunities to get experience in the performing arts, with universities playing a larger role as developers of young talent.

• Sources of Arts Funding: Earned income (i.e., box office) constitutes 66% of total revenue for Northeast Ohio arts and cultural organizations—notably better than the national average, which a Rand Research brief on the Arts sets at around 50%. But local organizations fall short of national standards with respect to cash reserves, which are equal here to only 14% of the operating budget compared to the benchmark figure of 25%; and 70% of the area’s arts and cultural organizations do not meet national standards for endowments. Government funding for the arts typically has accounted for a small percentage of arts funding, but since the early 1990s the mix has changed: While federal funding has declined by almost 50%, state and local appropriations have increased. State and local grants, however, tend to focus more on the social and economic benefits of the arts. Nationally, arts organizations have become increasingly dependent on private contributions, which now comprise approximately one-third of non-profit revenues. Cleveland’s performing arts institutions have enjoyed strong support from individuals, corporations and foundations.

• The Role of Heritage: But a city’s culture comprises more than its institutions. It is found in the architecture, signage, cuisine, music, traditions, taste in clothing and other accoutrements, the ways of talking and interacting, of worship and recreation, mourning and celebration, that define that city's neighborhoods. The cultural character of Cleveland is the legacy of the many ethnic groups that settled here, founded and worked the city's businesses, indeed, created its institutions, and called Cleveland home. The rich mélange of immigrant populations that settled in Cleveland arrived in waves and often settled in enclaves of people from the same home country. In the late 1800s, most foreign-born residents were of German or Irish descent. As the economy boomed and manufacturing jobs multiplied, Cleveland became a magnet for others seeking work and a chance for a better life. Around the turn of the 20th century, Eastern Europeans such as Czechs and Poles converged in large numbers. Austrians, Hungarians and Russians arrived just before World War I; and as the economy geared up for war and the troop ships took on men, African-Americans from the South now streamed north in even larger numbers to find work.

Each of these groups was drawn, understandably, to the neighborhoods that rang with familiar sounds and smells, the comforting symbols and ways—in short, the culture—of its own people. The following map from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History shows the location of traditional ethnic neighborhoods in the first half of the 20th century.

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• New Immigrants—the Missing Ingredient: A crucial element has been missing from Cleveland’s economic recovery over the last two decades: an infusion of fresh energy, valuable skills and new ideas of the sort that large numbers of immigrants brought to the

city during the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th. Significant numbers of new immigrants are still arriving in America—often bringing needed technological skills and other training, or at least an eagerness to work and learn—but, as the next graphic shows, they are no longer being drawn to Cleveland in any significant numbers. By the mid-Seventies the long negative trend had reversed for cities like New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and St, Paul-Minneapolis, where the influx of new blood has continued to rise steadily.

The same graph also makes it painfully clear that Cleveland is not yet participating from this trend. Though the percentage of the city’s population that is foreign-born is up slightly from what it was in 1990 (4.1%), by 2000 it had barely reached 4.5% compared with 11.1% nationwide. Chicago, now with more than 25% of its citizenry foreign-born, and New York with more than 35% are fast approaching the levels they boasted at the time of the First World War, when Cleveland’s immigrant population reached 35%.

Percent of foreign-born residents, 1900 - 2000

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Of course these figures do not tell the whole story. For example, while the percentage of foreign-born in Cleveland was 4.5% in 2000, the rate for Cuyahoga County overall was 6.4%. In earlier times, most immigrants settled in the center city and then gradually moved out toward the suburbs as their families became established. Many recent immigrants have bypassed the central city altogether. In 2000, foreign-born made up 7.3% of the suburban population, with some of the highest concentrations found in Hillcrest suburbs such as Mayfield Heights (18.1%), Richmond Heights (17.4%) and Beachwood (15.5%). To the south, Parma, Parma Heights and Seven Hills also had relatively high concentrations.

Other patterns also emerge: Approximately 58% of the foreign-born suburbanites in 2000 had come from Europe (as compared with 41% in the city of Cleveland), and just 5.7% from Latin America, versus 22% in Cleveland. Asian immigrants made up about the same share in both the city of Cleveland (29%) and the suburbs.

• Designated Heritage Districts: The City of Cleveland protects the integrity of historic and cultural structures through the work of the Landmarks Commission. The commission reviews proposed changes to individual structures of note as well as designation of distinctive districts throughout the city. Efforts have also been made to preserve, and promote a greater awareness of—and access to—other assets that constitute a part of

Cleveland’s cultural heritage. In 1998 the Cuyahoga River was named as one of 14 American Heritage Rivers.

Two years earlier, in 1996, the federal government designated the 88-mile Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor, which, centered on the Cuyahoga Valley with extensions out to University Circle, includes a significant section of the city. A management plan for the corridor was developed in 2000 to identify ways to protect and enhance resources that tell the story of the impact of the Ohio & Erie Canal and the subsequent industrial heritage of the area. The plan proposes telling these stories through journeys via a variety of transportation modes. In 1996, major driving routes along the canal corridor were designated as the Ohio & Erie Canal Scenic Byway. Three such routes run along the Cuyahoga Valley within the city: 1) West 25th Street to Broadview to Schaaf Road; 2) Independence Road; and 3) Warner Road to Broadway. The proposed Towpath Trail and Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway extensions to downtown Cleveland are also part of the City’s plan to expand the modes of transportation (and access to amenities) available to Clevelanders.

• Public Art: Public art, whether freestanding pieces or elements incorporated into the design of buildings or other functional structures, contributes to the shaping of memorable places, often by telling the stories of those places. Public art, moreover, can be created on a variety of scales. Downtown Cleveland’s 1903 Group Plan, comprising the 500-foot-wide outdoor mall and seven public buildings, is an example of civic design on a grand scale that created a whole district that was both distinctive in character and physically inspiring. (The earliest and most complete civic center plan for a major city outside of Washington, D.C., it was recognition across the country and praise in national journals.) Public art may also be incorporated into individual buildings, functional elements of buildings or outdoor spaces, or self-contained works.

The City of Cleveland recently showed its support for public art by enacting legislation requiring that 1.5% of the budget for every City project of over $350,000 go to public art. Streetscape projects are included in this requirement. As part of the Public Art Program, an advisory committee of design professionals and community representatives has been established to assist in soliciting designs and obtaining community input.

⬚ figure Art is often open to individual interpretation and can be a source to inspire public discourse. [Free Stamp on Willard Park]

ASSETS

Cleveland has a number of important assets in the area of Arts & Culture that can be built upon:

The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture showed in its “Economic Activity Report” that arts and culture industry provides the equivalent of 3,700 full-time jobs in Northeast Ohio and direct and indirect organizational and audience spending of $1.4 billion annually. It’s estimated that 8.5 million persons attend museums or other attractions here annually.

Performing Arts Organizations & Venues: Local arts and cultural institutions have brought the city of Cleveland national and worldwide recognition. The Cleveland Orchestra is considered one of the best in the world. Its home, Severance Hall, is an icon in the University Circle area and one of the most highly regarded concert halls in America. Listed below are a number of other performing organizations, museums, theatres and other venues that contribute to Cleveland’s rich cultural landscape.

⬚ figure Severance Hall is home of the world renowned Cleveland Orchestra and an example of how private philanthropy has had a profound impact on the cultural heritage of the City. [Severance Hall]

Performing Organizations

• Apollo’s Fire (Baroque Orchestra)

• Cleveland Orchestra

• Red {An Orchestra}

• Cleveland Chamber Symphony

• Cleveland Opera

• Lyric Opera Cleveland

• Jazz Heritage Orchestra

• Cleveland Jazz Orchestra

• Cleveland Pops Orchestra

• Cleveland Institute of Music

• Ohio Ballet

Theaters

• Playhouse Square Center (Ohio, Palace, State, Allen & Hanna theaters)

• Great Lakes Theatre Festival

• The Cleveland Playhouse

• Cleveland Public Theatre

• Dobama Theater

• Karamu House

• Charenton Theater

• Near West Theatre, Inc

• Beck Center for the Arts

• Cain Park

Presenting Organizations

• Cleveland Cinematheque
• Cleveland Film Society/Cleveland International Film Festival
• Dance Cleveland
• Cleveland Chamber Music Society

Museums University Circle

• Cleveland Museum of Art
• Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
• Cleveland Museum of Natural History
• Western Reserve Historical Society
• Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum North Coast Harbor
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
• Great Lakes Science Center
• Steamship William G Mather Museum

Other

• Dunham Tavern Museum
• Cleveland State University Art Gallery
• President James A. Garfield Memorial

Regional

• Pro Football Hall of Fame (Canton)

• National Inventors Hall of Fame (Akron)

• Lawnfield (Mentor)

• Hale Farm & Village (Bath)

• Cleveland Botanical Garden

• Cleveland Children's Museum

• African-American Museum

• Dittrick Medical History Museum

• USS Cod Submarine

• International Women's Air and Space Museum

• Soldiers and Sailors Monument (Civil War Museum)

• Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

• The Sculpture Center

Support Organizations: The Cleveland area has many nonprofit organizations and programs that support its arts, heritage and cultural resources and are working to improve them and open them to a larger audience. Listed below are a number of those organizations.

• The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture was launched in 1997 by The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, and The Cleveland Cultural Coalition to serve as a central voice for a large array of organizations and to find ways to strengthen Northeast Ohio’s cultural assets and enable more residents and visitors to enjoy them. In 2000, after gathering input and ideas from many players, the Partnership issued the Northeast Ohio's Arts and Culture Plan, a blueprint for success that includes policies relating to such critical matters as access, learning, partnerships and resources, and is now working to get its recommendations implemented.

• The Cleveland Artists Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to regional art history and education that was founded in 1984. Its mission is to preserve, exhibit, actively collect, research and document the artistic heritage of Northeast Ohio. CAF encourages a more comprehensive discussion of artistic traditions and innovations in Cleveland and carries out exhibits, events and benefits.

• The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency established in 1965 to promote the development of the arts and preserve Ohio’s cultural heritage. OAC does this by providing grants and services in the areas of arts education, capacity building for organizations, individual creativity, arts innovation, arts access, support for ongoing programs, and international partnerships.

• Ohio Citizens for the Arts is a statewide nonprofit grassroots membership organization working to increase public support for the arts in Ohio. OCA advocates on public policy

issues that impact the arts and on arts issues. It has a lobbyist in the state house and provides information to citizens and elected officials about relevant issues.

• The Northeast Ohio Jazz Society is a volunteer nonprofit organization that advocates for jazz as an art form by furthering awareness and appreciation through performance and education.

• Young Audiences of Greater Cleveland, founded in 1953, is the country's oldest and largest nonprofit arts-in-education organization. With the primary goal of making the arts essential to the education and development of all school-aged children, Young Audiences serves as a resource for both students and teachers—by providing performances, workshops, residencies, pre-school programs, and assistance with programs and events.

• Art House is a nonprofit art center located in historic Brooklyn Centre, whose mission is to nurture involvement in the arts and culture. It achieves its mission through classes, workshops and professional development programs.

• The Cleveland Institute of Art is one of the top professional colleges of art and design in the country. Established in 1882, CIA typically has an enrollment of 600 students. The school trains students for careers in a variety of professions related to the arts—including gallery artists, product and transportation designers, graphic designers, photographers, contemporary craftsmen, and educators. It offers programs in design and materials, integrated media, visual arts and liberal arts. To keep its curriculum current, CIA recently established programs in science and biomedical communications and digital art.

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Integrating art into the design of products makes them more attractive to consumers. [Cleveland Institute of Art]

• The Cleveland Institute of Music, which opened its doors in 1920, offers degrees in music and musical arts. It has an enrollment of approximately 400 Conservatory Students and 1,700 Preparatory and Continuing Education Students. It presents more than 125 concerts each year featuring the CIM Orchestra, Opera Theater, faculty and visiting artists, as well as 250 student recitals annually.

• The Cleveland Music School Settlement, a community music school established in 1911 that offers music instruction, summer camps, preschool and day school programs, and a nationally acclaimed music therapy department to people of all ages and abilities.

• Several of the colleges and universities in the Cleveland area also offer degrees or courses related to the arts. Cleveland State University offers degrees in Art Education, Art History and Studio Art. Within its College of Arts and Sciences, Case Western Reserve University has departments of Art History and Education, Classics, History, Music, and Theatre & Dance. Cuyahoga Community College offers theater courses as part of its liberal arts program.

John Carroll University’s Department of Art History and Humanities offers majors and minors in both fields. Notre Dame College has an Art Department that offers degrees in studio and graphic arts. Baldwin Wallace College offers majors in Art and Art History, Communication and Theater, Music and Theater Arts. Ursuline College offers degrees in arts, art therapy, history, music, fashion design & merchandising, and historic preservation.

• Kent State University’s Urban Design Center promotes the quality of urban places through technical design assistance, research, education and advocacy. Operating out of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative located in Downtown Cleveland, it assists community groups and provides services in master planning, commercial district revitalization, recreation planning, design guidelines, historic preservation, residential redevelopment, campus planning, and streetscape design.

• The Sculpture Center fulfills its mission of making sculpture a part of the civic dialogue by promoting the preservation of outdoor sculpture, exhibiting sculpture, and educating artists and audiences about the role of sculpture past and present.

• Cleveland Public Art is an independent, nonprofit organization promoting public art projects that create unique spaces in the urban landscape. It acts as a vehicle for collaboration between artists and design professionals. CPA has been instrumental in facilitating improved design for a variety of civic projects such as the Cleveland Public Library’s Eastman Reading Garden, the Orchard School Fence, and the Detroit-Superior Bridge Public Promenade.

• The Ohio Canal Corridor works to implement many of the recommendations of the management plan of the Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor. Priority projects include extending the Towpath Trail and Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway to Downtown Cleveland and the establishment of Canal Basin Park.

• Foundations: From the beginning Cleveland’s arts and cultural institutions have received strong support from philanthropic individuals and groups. That support continues today with the generosity of many families and foundations, including two of Cleveland’s largest, the Cleveland Foundation and the George Gund Foundation. The Kulas and William Bascom Little foundations fund music education and composers, respectively.

Ethnic Diversity: Even a casual perusal of the Cleveland White Pages (and Business White Pages) attests to the rich diversity of cultures still represented here; a drive through the city’s 36 neighborhoods, taking note of the names of businesses, churches, social clubs and specialty shops, puts a face on our ethnic diversity. As of the 2000 federal census, 9.2% of the city’s residents were of German background (not the same as “foreign-born” immigrants, though some may be); 8.2%, Irish; 4.8%, Polish; 4.6%, Italian—but according to the City’s Community Relations Board, more than 117 different cultures are represented in the city of Cleveland.

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At the West Side Market the variety of the City’s ethnic heritage is reflected in the foods that can be purchased. [West Side Market]

Even the largest group, African Americans, who make up 52.1% of the city’s population, represent a variety of cultures, from Ethiopian and Nigerian to Ghanaian and Liberian, as shops and restaurants will attest. Another 7.3% identified themselves, using a government bureaucracy-created category, as Hispanic, but the majority are actually of Puerto Rican heritage, with the rest—as restaurant and shop signs reveal—including everything from Mexican and Cuban to Peruvian and a number of other Central and South American countries (an Ecuadorian bakery), which represent very different cultural traditions.

Asians made up 1.3% of the population, once again representing several different ethnic heritages. Thais, Chinese, Cambodians, Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese—as well as Greeks, Lebanese, Russian Jews, Serbs, Indians, and Native Americans are all visible here, and contribute to the rich diversity of Cleveland’s cultural and culinary offerings: The most recent edition of a popular book, Cleveland Ethnic Eats, profiles more than 350 ethnic restaurants and markets in the area. Some are clustered in proudly ethnic neighborhoods such as Little Italy or Slavic Village; others are part of the lively cultural mix that gives well-established commercial corridors their special character—The Croatian Bookshop (6315 St. Clair) just a few doors east of the popular Empress Taytu Ethiopian Restaurant (6125 St. Clair).

Ethnic Organizations: Many of the ethnic groups in the Cleveland area have social organizations that arrange events, festivals and parades associated with their heritage and some even have facilities or museums where events are held and where their culture is documented. Two of the largest parades in the City of Cleveland, St. Patrick and Columbus Day parades, are organized by the Irish and Italian communities. A sample of the diverse ethnic organizations facilities than can be found around the Cleveland area include: the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, the Hungarian Heritage Museum, the Ukrainian Museum-Archives, Bohemian National Hall, the Temple-Tifereth Museum of Religious Art, the African-American Museum, the Sachsenheim Hall, the Spanish American Committee, the Organization of Chinese Americans of Greater Cleveland, and the Polka Hall of Fame.

Historical Archives: The Jewish, African American, Irish American, and Italian American archives of the Western Reserve Historical Society actively collect, house and exhibit materials and artifacts that tell the story of their respective ethnic groups in Cleveland, beginning with the earliest immigrants, and their signal contributions to the city’s history.

Religious Organizations: Many ethnic communities center on their churches. Even former parishioners who have moved to the suburbs, return regularly to the old neighborhood church in the city for services and the experience of community. In addition to serving as a meeting place and living symbol of the community, the churches often function as anchors for the area in which they are located, providing indispensable social services such as food kitchens or after-school tutoring for neighborhood children.

The Cleveland Cultural Gardens, a string of 24 landscaped gardens, with statuary, along East Boulevard and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Rockefeller Park honors many of the city’s ethnic heritages. These delightful areas, a manifestation of those communities’ identities and a stirring reminder of their cultural contributions to civilization, are annually the settings of weddings and other gatherings.

The City’s Community Relations Board is responsible for improving cross-cultural relations among these different groups. It accomplishes its mission through activities in three areas: community outreach, human relations training and community education, and special events.

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A “Sense of Place”: The city already has a number of neighborhoods and historic districts that have a unique and distinct character and generate activity because of their strong association with artistic, architectural, historical or ethnic characteristics. Little Italy and Slavic Village are two neighborhoods that are strongly associated with their ethnic past. The West Side Market, which provides Clevelanders with access to a variety of ethnic foods in a setting reminiscent of times past, is a cornerstone of Ohio City and its revitalization. Larchmere Avenue and sections of Lorain Avenue generate economic activity focused on art and antiques. Tremont is known not only for its restaurants, nightclubs and art galleries (ArtWalk is a regular event that draws visitors), but also for the architecture of the many churches that grace its streets.

Local festivals are an opportunity to celebrate the uniqueness of our neighborhoods and sense of place. [Hessler Road Street Fair]

The broad tree lawns that characterize Tremont’s West 14th Street corridor as well as West Boulevard are also a mark of distinction for these places. Shaker Square’s unique physical layout, walkability, excellent transit access and sense of place have continued to be its strength. University Circle, with its university, museums, hospitals and park-like setting, is a prime activity generator for the entire region. Downtown Cleveland boasts a number of vibrant districts, such as Playhouse Square, North Coast Harbor, Gateway and the Warehouse District, that owe a large part of their identity (and attraction for consumers and, increasingly, residents) from their architecture or from arts and culture. Many other neighborhoods in the city of Cleveland possess similar assets on which they could capitalize.

CHALLENGES

Cleveland faces a number of challenges in the area of Arts & Culture that, creatively addressed, could help these neighborhoods realize their full potential:

• Public Unawareness of Cultural Opportunities: Ninety percent of the respondents to a public survey conducted by the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture agreed that the area’s arts and cultural resources are a source of great pride—but more than 60% admitted they had not attended programs because they had not been aware of them. New ways must be found to capture the attention of today's busy, message-inundated city residents.

• Neighborhoods Lacking Art’s Stimulation and Affirmation: Art, in the form of public art or architecture, or the creative configuration of public spaces, calls us to excellence, self-realization and worthy aspirations, and reminds us of the power of creativity to rise above our failures and pedestrian thinking. It binds people and communities together by creating shared experiences (as music, cultural festivals and sidewalk performances also can do) and common points of reference. It may honor a neighborhood’s heritage or awaken pride in its contributions, hold up role models for the young, or form part of an area’s distinctive identity—and appeal to prospective residents and new businesses. Integrating the arts more fully into the fabric and the day-to-day life of a community, in short, provides food for the spirit while creating more attractive places.

• Lack of Appreciation for What the Arts Provide: As a result of diminished arts education, our schools are denying young people the chance to experience the stimulation and rich sense of self and of life’s possibilities the arts can provide, not to mention the opportunity to discover and hone what may be marketable talents. Perhaps even more disturbingly, this deprivation will result in an urban population that does not recognize the value, never mind the very real satisfactions, of the arts: a narrowing of our horizons that will ultimately take its toll on entrepreneurial creativity and vision, limiting Cleveland’s future—beginning with the continued viability of its cultural institutions. With the decrease in demand, and supporters, some of this city’s most powerful assets could be in jeopardy. In the balance are the thousands of jobs and the tax revenue these activities produce, as well as our ability to attract the kind of educated, fresh-thinking people who will generate jobs—and make Cleveland competitive—in the new knowledge-based global economy.

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Early exposure to the arts supports the development of creative and innovative thinking. [Karamu Early Childhood Development Center]

Arts and cultural education programs must be designed that expand and broaden the audience for the arts; this effort must be inclusive in character, finding creative ways to engage people of all ages, genders, ethnic background and economic status. Providing neighborhood residents with opportunities to experience the arts in a more familiar context could help demystify the cultural experience. The involvement of area companies must also be sought. Popular support—and the convinced backing of Cleveland’s business—are key to obtaining the funding necessary to restore and expand educational offerings in our schools and neighborhoods.

• Slow Market Growth: A potential barrier to audience growth and support for arts and cultural institutions is the slowness of the city to increase its population. In most cities, it has been population growth, not an increase in public participation, which has resulted in higher attendance at cultural performances.

• Electronic Competition: Traditional cultural venues are facing another challenge these days in the competition for the public’s limited leisure time and discretionary income—from the electronic media. Continual improvements in technology, including the quality, flexibility and interactive participation, of pre-produced entertainment are producing new entertainment options that are especially attractive to younger audiences.

• Inadequate Access: Visitors complain of the difficulty of getting from one cultural venue to another, the stress of having to navigate unfamiliar streets, and the expense of multiple parking fees. A coordinated transportation system linking cultural amenities scattered throughout the area would be an important step in the right direction. Residents of some neighborhoods feel they lack equal access to these amenities because of geographical isolation or ticket prices well above their income, while members of some minority groups say their cultural interests or tastes are ignored or looked down on by arts programmers.

• Insufficient Resources: Most local cultural institutions, scrambling just to stay in business in these challenging times, lack expertise much less the additional resources to adapt to changing circumstances. One way to help these groups function more efficiently while exploring ways and means of reaching a larger public is more collaborations and networking between arts and cultural organizations—and between cultural and non-artistic entities. A more businesslike approach to operations is also needed to ensure that what money is available is spent wisely. This will require the development of a strong pool of interested citizens combining practical skills with sensitivity to the special needs and goals of the arts who are willing to work as board-members and volunteers.

• Limited Public Funding: There is limited local public funding support for cultural organizations. The decrease in federal funding for the arts has put more of the burden of support on state and local governments. Northeast Ohio lags behind other regions in per capita local and county support of arts and culture. Developing the consensus needed to establish comprehensive local funding will require broad-based leadership. The incorporation of more public art into public projects—along with having greater input from the arts community into the design of public capital improvements—would greatly improve the area's "sense of place", promote diverse neighborhoods, and preserve elements of each one's distinctive character and heritage that is in danger of being lost.

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

The overarching goal is to enrich the lives of Clevelanders and to strengthen economic vitality by establishing Cleveland as a world-class center for the arts. The Connecting Cleveland 2020 Plan therefore puts forth a comprehensive set of Arts & Culture policies, each addressing a critical issue, along with strategies through which immediate steps can be taken toward their implementation/achievement:

I) Arts & the New Economy. Support and market the arts as a magnet to attract creative and entrepreneurial individuals to the Cleveland region, thereby generating economic activity and jobs.

a. Use the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture's report, "Northeast Ohio's Arts and Cultural Plan" as a guide for the arts communities participation in the Cleveland region's renewal and development agenda.

b. Recruit more public and private sector leaders to serve in the arts and cultural sector and involve more arts leadership on civic boards.

c. Develop print and electronic materials that will highlight the region's varied arts and cultural opportunities as recruitment tools.

d. Conduct arts and cultural education trade shows that highlight arts efforts.

e. Provide internships with artists and cultural organizations.

f. Encourage the interaction of arts organizations with other disciplines such as engineering and marketing to integrate more art into product development.

g. Develop creative and flexible ticket packages that give people the opportunity to attend a variety of arts and cultural experiences and lodging/ticket/meal packages to encourage extended stays.

h. Maintain economic, consumer, education, tourism and social impact data to measure the success of programs and strategies and to identify new opportunities.

2. Arts Districts. Establish and market “arts districts” as an approach to revitalizing neighborhoods where galleries and other arts venues are concentrated.

   a. Identify those areas where the architectural quality of the buildings and the flexibility of the space for living, working and exhibiting lend themselves to the “arts district” model.

   b. Establish the City’s Live-Work District overlay zoning in those areas where the building stock is applicable and an arts district is desired.

   c. Offer financial incentives for art and cultural organizations or enterprises to locate or developers to invest in an art district.

   d. Leverage broadband and wireless communications networks as assets in the development of arts districts.

   e. Support the creation and preservation of inviting public spaces and common areas in the district that encourage people to congregate, interact and exchange ideas,

   f. Conduct “city walks” that connect residents to the district and highlight its history, architecture, natural environment and current activity.

   g. Encourage the location of retail, entertainment and services that complement an arts district.

3. Catalysts. Capitalize on the presence of theaters, museums and other major arts venues as catalysts for neighborhood and regional development.

   a. Develop stronger ties between art and cultural institutions and institutions of higher learning as part of the creation of “college towns” in the vicinity of colleges and universities.

   b. Encourage the creation of exterior exhibits, programs or physical improvements that bring the creativity of the venue out into its larger neighborhood.

   c. Design public capital improvements to reflect the presence of these major art and cultural institutions.

4. Public Funding for the Arts. Create local mechanisms for permanent and predictable public funding for a diversity of arts endeavors in the Cleveland region, supplementing private and other governmental funding sources.

   a. Create a comprehensive and accountable grants process.

   b. Create a low-interest loan program for the arts and cultural sector.

   c. Establish pooled benefits programs for arts and cultural organizations in order to reduce the costs of benefits for employees.

   d. Link sponsors to cultural education programs.

e. Create professional development fellowships at major cultural organizations.

f. Match business volunteer expertise to cultural organization needs.

5. Public Art Programs. Strengthen the City of Cleveland's new public art program and work with other governments, developers and corporations to incorporate public art as a standard component of development projects throughout the city.

a. Assign an administrator within the City government as the arts and culture liaison.

b. Establish a forum between the arts community, government and the private sector to discuss issues related to public art in the development process.

c. Utilize the arts community to provide technical assistance on public arts projects.

6. Neighborhood Place-Making. Use public art to strengthen the "sense of place" and highlight the heritage and character of each Cleveland neighborhood.

a. Support the development of fairs and festivals that highlight the history and culture of places around the City.

b. Leverage resources and technical expertise available through the nationally designated Ohio & Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor.

c. Coordinate and design public improvements along the routes designated as the Ohio & Erie Canalway National Scenic Byway and the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail National Scenic Byway to help tell the tale of those routes and to direct motorists to nearby venues.

d. Involve the community in park design and ensure that community heritage is reflected in improvements.

e. Include public art in streetscape improvements and road and bridge reconstruction projects.

f. Improve access to and interpretation at local cemeteries as a connection to the heritage of the community.

7. Live-Work Districts. Create supportive environments for local artists by establishing live-work districts, where obsolete industrial buildings are transformed into residences and studios through the use of financial incentives and innovative zoning.

a. Identify places throughout the city that may be suitable for use of the City's Live-Work Overlay District Zoning.

b. Encourage businesses that complement the needs of local artists to locate in the vicinity of live-work districts.

8. Accessibility. Ensure that residents of all neighborhoods, income levels and ages have affordable access to the arts, including arts programming in the public schools.

a. Encourage arts organizations to expand their outreach and publicity to the city's neighborhoods.

b. Encourage partnerships among community groups, arts and cultural organizations and the City to pool resources and share expenses to reduce the cost of staging events.

c. Develop print and electronic materials that will promote the value and diversity of arts and culture, highlight the region's varied arts and cultural opportunities, and provide a calendar of events.

d. Expand and create portable arts and cultural programs.

e. Expand arts and cultural programs in non-traditional venues such as parks, recreation centers, senior centers, community centers, hospitals, places of worship and shopping areas.

f. Provide training for teachers to incorporate the arts into their lesson plans.

g. Expand arts and cultural curriculum services to more schools and organize student arts and cultural clubs.

h. Incorporate art into public capital improvements.

i. Route public transit to arts and cultural events and facilities, and provide arts and cultural information in public transit vehicles.

9. Cultural Diversity. Ensure that the arts in Cleveland fully reflect and represent the cultural and demographic diversity of the Cleveland community.

a. Bring disparate groups together for participation in cross-cultural events.

b. Support exchange programs that help form partnerships with arts professionals and organizations abroad.

c. Forge stronger ties with local ethnic and religious organizations to broaden the awareness and participation in their social events.

d. Support the development of signature projects that promote the heritage of ethnic groups concentrated in certain locations in the city.

Specific opportunities relating to arts and culture are identified in the Development Opportunities section of the Citywide Plan website.

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Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY FACILITIES

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY SERVICES

OVERVIEW

It is a widely accepted fact, backed up by many studies, that education plays an enormously important role in the economic success (or failure) of an individual, a community, a city, indeed, of an entire region. A high school graduate will on average earn more in his or her lifetime than a high school dropout; a college graduate, twice as much as someone who has only finished high school; an individual with post-graduate education, even more. Indeed, with the coming of a knowledge- and information-based economy, this will be truer than ever before. What is not as widely realized is that the general level of education in a community, or region, or state affects everybody's prospects—for better, or for worse. It is a perfect example of how a rising tide lifts all boats, or conversely, of how a drastic lowering of the sea level can leave many boats—even the fastest, best-outfitted, most expertly steered ones—run aground and stranded on the reefs. The most innovative business ideas in the world are worthless without people with the skills to implement them.

Lifelong Learning Opportunities: This includes not only children and young adults preparing to enter the work force (and the polling booth) but those already there who are eager to qualify for a better or more challenging opportunity. This, too, is how cities advance.

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Programs such as Digital Vision are providing life long learning opportunities for all residents by closing the digital divide.

In concept, training centers should be an ideal mechanism for providing residents with the opportunity to learn basic life skills. Unfortunately, the type of training and services provided at many centers here prepare participants only for jobs with minimal wages and minimal opportunities, in today's highly educated workforce. Basic skills are just that: basic. Most of these centers don't begin to offer the array of training and skills being taught in formal or private educational facilities such as Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University or John Carroll University. Until we find ways to give neighborhood residents access to the kind of training that will enable them to claim those jobs—or the skills to successfully launch and build a small business Cleveland will continue to experience high rates of poverty and low rates of educational and entrepreneurial achievement. Education opportunity is only half the key to progress; the other is access.

Figure 1 shows Digital Vision Technology Centers in Cleveland. These centers provide access to computers for individuals and communities lacking computer access or training. The provision of centers such as these offers the opportunities for lifelong learning and allows residents to maximize their potential.