The Western Reserve Land Conservancy (www.wrlandconservancy.org) has recently completed Common Ground, a regional land protection report for northern Ohio. The Western Reserve Land Conservancy is a nonprofit conservation organization in Moreland Hills, dedicated to preserving the natural resources of northern Ohio. Common Ground is the first-ever collaborative look at conservation in Northeast Ohio. The report is the result of the efforts of the region’s conservation community over the past year. It will soon be released to additional conservation partners and to the public. Regional land conservation provides many benefits for Northeast Ohio. The ultimate objective of land conservation is to preserve the natural resources of the region that optimize quality of life for its inhabitants, including animals and plants as well as humans. Conservation protects existing open spaces, productive agricultural lands, ecologically-sensitive areas, and encourages more efficient land use within the existing development footprint. The ultimate vision of Western Reserve…
2013 January
The neighborhood development group University Park Alliance has been awarded nearly $8 million to continue building Akron’s urban core. University Park Alliance is a non-profit community development corporation dedicated to the importance of ‘place-making’. University Park Alliance describes their Vision: We envision University Park as an exciting opportunity to return to a traditional urban neighborhood where interesting people live, great ideas thrive and community is key. And we see a clear path for getting there. Our strategy is to capitalize on the economic synergy of the great institutions already anchored throughout this geography—including a major university, three excellent hospitals, a bio-tech institute, three brand new schools—and develop a dense, walkable neighborhood with diverse cultural offerings, great healthcare, quality education and plenty of recreational and leisure opportunities. In essence, our mission is to build a ‘sense of place’ between these strong anchors. To do so, University Park Alliance has created a…
Grist.com recently reported on the crusade against blight in areas of northeast Ohio like Youngstown and Cleveland. “Good samaritans in Ohio may be getting a reprieve from potential misdemeanor charges. Today the state House is voting on a bill that would allow people to clean up vacant, blighted properties without fear of a trespassing charge. This measure essentially gives residents more power to improve their neighborhoods, harnessing NIMBY instincts for good. From The Columbus Dispatch: Some residents hesitate to take care of the properties around them because they risk trespassing charges, said Tiffany Sokol, office manager of the nonprofit Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., which boards up and cleans up vacant properties. The bill would allow individuals to clean up blighted land or buildings that have clearly been abandoned. “Very ugly, nasty places,” [said Sen. Joe Schiavoni (D), the bill’s sponsor]. “These properties are an eyesore, a danger to their neighbors.” The Rust Belt…
A unique partnership between three leading institutions has released a new tool that provides data on conditions in Northeast Ohio. The Northeast Ohio Data Collaborative, formed in early 2012, announced the availability of NEO CANDO 2010+. This interactive online data portal provides information about demographic, socioeconomic, and other data that help define and promote understanding of the human landscape of Northeast Ohio. Access NEO CANDO 2010+ at http://neocando.case.edu/index.shtml. Claudia Coulton, co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences of Case Western Reserve University, explained, “The development of the original NEO CANDO put our region ahead of other parts of the country. This update includes the latest data, has new features, and operates faster, keeping Northeast Ohio at the forefront.” Features of NEO CANDO 2010+ Free and publicly accessible resource Easily downloadable demographic and socioeconomic data On-demand mapping based on a Google…
In our work at NEOSCC, we are guided by six Livability Principles from The Partnership for Sustainable Communities (an interagency partnership between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)). One of the principles is to ‘support existing communities’. This principle is said to target federal funding toward existing communities—through strategies like transit-oriented, mixed-use development and land recycling—to increase community revitalization and the efficiency of public works investments and safeguard rural landscapes. The EPA recently released a report examining residential construction trends in America’s metropolitan regions. The report finds that nearly three out of four large metropolitan regions saw an increased share of new housing development in previously developed areas during 2005-2009 compared to 2000-2004. Known as infill housing, this type of development provides economic and public health benefits to metropolitan areas while protecting the local environment. …
It’s no secret that Northeast Ohio is growing across a number of sectors. Over the past several years, a number of public initiatives like the Third Frontier, area business incubators, and lots of private investment have driven high-tech growth across the region. Cleveland.com reports: The Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor area saw a 9.1 percent increase in high-tech jobs created from 2010 to 2011, according to Engine Advocacy, a San Franciso-based nonprofit organization aimed at helping technology businesses thrive. Nationwide, the average growth rate was 2.6 percent. Ohio ranks seventh nationwide among the top 10 states, with a 4.6 percent average growth rate. The study shows that more jobs are being created in high-tech fields than in the rest of the labor force. Engine Advocacy commissioned the Bay Area Council Economic Institute to analyze Bureau of Labor Statistics data in efforts to identify communities that are experiencing significant job growth in the high-tech sector. …