The City of Cleveland passed a Complete and Green Streets ordinance in September 2011. In effect as of January 2012, the ordinance requires implementation of sustainable policies and guidelines in all construction projects within the public right of way. This ordinance will create a walking, biking and public transportation-friendly city while reducing environmental impact by incorporating green infrastructure. Some characteristics of Complete and Green Streets include enhanced transit waiting environments, bicycle lanes and signs, pedestrian refuges, public art, waste containers, crosswalk enhancements, ADA accessibility, way-finding signage, permeable pavement, green space or trees and multi-use paths. Cleveland has began the process of creating a Complete and Green Streets Typology and Design Manual to assist in implementing the Complete and Green Streets Ordinance. We currently have an inter-organizational task force overseeing this process. The Task Force has classified streets into 10 different types, each with its own priorities for pedestrians, vehicles,…
427 Design
WKSU, Mark Urycki: If you’d like to build an expressway that links Beachwood to Youngstown, you’ve had your chance to suggest it. Groups of people have been gathering in cities around Northeast Ohio this week to make suggestions about the future growth of the region. It’s all being funded by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Obama Administration is handing out grant money in hopes of saving much larger sums in the long run. The Partnership for Sustainable Communities is an effort by HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. EPA. They’re hoping that better designed communities will mean less waste building new roads and housing developments while the old ones just crumble. The Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium has been asking locals how to do that this week. April 1 – May 2, sessions were held across Northeast Ohio. The…
Economic research plays an essential role in guiding the work of the Fund Fund for Our Economic Future, and helps them identify what matters and other key priorities in their work to advance a growing, opportunity-rich economy for the people of Northeast Ohio. What Matters to Metros™: Foundational Indicators for Economic Competitiveness helps community leaders identify factors that are associated with economic growth in mid-sized U.S. metropolitan areas in a post-recession economy. Download the Fund’s report and its appendices. This work builds upon six previous iterations (called the Dashboard of Economic Indicators) and assesses the relationship of 55 variables to economic growth across four measures: per capita income, gross metropolitan product (GMP), productivity and employment, between 1990 and 2011. Together, higher education and innovation remain critical ingredients for prosperous, productive communities that generate higher incomes, but are not associated with overall job growth over the period. Many metros that experienced high levels of employment growth…
The Mahoning River flows through the eastern portion of the NEOSCC planning area before it eventually empties into the Ohio River in Pennsylvania. The Mahoning River was once considered the heart of the steel industry in the United States, where industrial development grew the cities of Youngstown, Warren, Newton Falls, Struthers and many others along its winding path. Commonly known as “The Valley,” this region experienced massive hemorrhaging of industrial and manufacturing jobs in the 1970s and 1980s. The result was population decline and disinvestment in traditional neighborhoods and urban centers that continues today. Additionally, the environmental impact of the industry in The Valley has made the Mahoning River infamous. The river is the only surface water body in Northeast Ohio where the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) has labeled its waters unfit for human contact from Warren to the Pennsylvania state line. More detailed information on the latest…
NEOSCC is proud to have participated in this year’s new and improved EarthFest, hosted by Earth Day Coalition at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. As part of our exhibition at EarthFest, we hosted a short three-question survey that previewed some of the decisions Northeast Ohio residents will be faced with in our upcoming online game focused on scenario planning. This Summer, NEOSCC will be launching an on-line engagement tool entitled Imagine MyNEO! that is based on an the open source software, Crowd Gauge. Imagine MyNEO! will allow the entire region to share their priorities with the Vibrant NEO process. In this survey, participants were first asked to describe the community they live in as urban, suburban, or rural. Next, they were prompted to identify up to three sustainability issues that they feel are important for the region. Lastly, they were asked to select what kind of Northeast Ohio they would like to live in, based…
Great events last night in Cleveland and Akron! Thanks for great conversations and thoughts about the future.
Discussing the challenges and opportunities of Northeast Ohio’s future clearly strikes a chord with residents, at least if Tuesday evening is any indication. More than 200 residents and community leaders turned out Tuesday evening to plan a better, stronger, more sustainable future for our region. Attendees at the Vibrant NEO Workshops in Warren and Oberlin were engaged and energetic to discuss the future. We hope to see you tonight in Cleveland or Canton or tomorrow in Akron or Warrensville Heights.
Our work together begins tonight! VibrantNEO 2040’s scenarios will tell stories about our possible futures, based on where Northeast Ohio is today and the choices we might make about how we use our land and how we invest our resources. Once we create these scenarios, we will be able to compare how successful they are at achieving our common goals for the region, judge which choices would be best for Northeast Ohio’s future, and create a shared vision and framework for the future around those choices. You are invited to attend an upcoming workshop to share your voice in the conversation. We have selected six city locations throughout the region for your convenience. Pick a date and location that works for you! CLICK ON THE BLUE LINKS BELOW TO REGISTER! April 30 Oberlin (Lorain, Medina, and western Cuyahoga) The Oberlin Inn, 7 North Main Street, Oberlin, OH 44074 Warren (Mahoning,…
Join Us this week! We all have our reasons for loving Northeast Ohio, and because we love this region, we want to see it thrive and grow, just as we want to see the challenges facing our region addressed and put behind us. The Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC) is working to help residents preserve and build upon what we value, and fix those things that are challenging. NEOSCC is a regional collaboration of public agencies, elected officials, philanthropic and non-profit organizations, colleges and universities and community members. Our mission is the development of Vibrant NEO 2040, a vision for how to make Northeast Ohio a more vibrant, resilient, and sustainable place to live and work. To develop that vision, we need a solid understanding of the “facts on the ground,” so NEOSCC started by convening over 150 experts from across Northeast Ohio to study over 200 existing policy…
Only 2 more days to our first workshops in Warren and Oberlin. Here is a preview of our new intro video that we will premier at our sessions this week! Register for one of our April 30 – May 2 workshops!