VIBRANTNEO 2040

A VISION AND FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE OF NORTHEAST OHIO

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THE VIBRANT NEO GUIDEBOOK

We have developed an executive summary of the Vision, Framework and Action Products. The Vibrant NEO Guidebook describes the Process, Objectives, Recommendations, Priority Initiatives and Indicators.  The document include maps of each of the major vision themes and summaries of the Action Products.

LATEST NEWS FROM THE BLOG

05 Apr: Now More Than Ever: Regional Collaboration During Covid and Beyond

The coronavirus pandemic has forced us all to do more with less as government revenues have been reduced. Even before the pandemic though, Northeast Ohio was struggling with declining population and aging infrastructure. With current trends as of 2010, Vibrant NEO predicted that all 12 counties of Northeast Ohio would be in a worse fiscal position by 2040, with expenses exceeding revenues. To keep this from happening, one of the four key Vibrant NEO themes is “promoting collaboration and efficiency”. Working across political boundaries can help reduce costs, stabilize budgets, and improve quality of life. On April 1st, 2021, Vibrant NEO hosted a panel discussion with four elected officials, learn how they are doing just that. Bringing their years of insight were: Robert A. Fiala, Willoughby Mayor and Safety Director Jim Hockaday, Conneaut City Manager Dennis Morley, Eastlake Mayor and Safety Director Rich Regovich, Willowick Mayor and Safety Director Michelle…

14 Jan: Vibrant NEO 2040 County Reports

In 2010, leaders representing a 12-county region of Northeast Ohio recognized that our communities’ futures are intertwined and concluded that the region could be more successful if we work together to anticipate, prepare for, and build our future. The Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC) was created to determine how to achieve this goal. NEOSCC’s assignment was not to “plan” the future of Northeast Ohio—those are decisions for the leaders and residents of Northeast Ohio’s communities to make. In broad terms, NEOSCC was created to answer three questions: What course is northeast Ohio on? What future does northeast Ohio want for itself? How do we make that future a reality? Over a three year period, each of the 12-counties participating in the NEOSCC effort collected extensive amounts of data, prepared maps and conducted public engagement. The county-level data was then aggregated into a regional framework report, Vibrant NEO 2040 –…

23 Apr: APA Awards Vibrant NEO the Daniel Burnham Award

Northeast Ohio’s biggest regional planning effort in a half-century has won the planning profession’s top award for a comprehensive plan. Vibrant NEO 2040, the product of three years’ work by the nonprofit Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium, has been awarded the 2015 Daniel Burnham Award of the American Planning Association. “It feels terrific,” Grace Gallucci, director of NOACA, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and one of the plan’s lead organizers, said about the award. “I think it helps to validate the work that NEOSCC did over the last three years . . . to say that it’s a good plan,” she said. The award is named for Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, who planned Chicago’s world-famous lakefront and also devised influential plans for other American cities, including Cleveland’s 1903 Group Plan. Gallucci said she hoped the award would add impetus to the implementation of the Vibrant NEO vision, which calls for focusing new…

27 Jan: AMATS Releases Mid-Block Crossing Analysis

The Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study’s (AMATS) recently completed Mid-Block Crossing Analysis is a first-of-its kind effort by the agency to identify locations where mid-block pedestrian crossings are occurring or are likely to occur throughout the Greater Akron area.  By identifying these locations, area communities can determine where pedestrian safety improvements may be needed.   This analysis won’t be the last-of-its-kind either, according to AMATS officials.  It’s the first in a series of similar efforts to foster a new planning synergy for the region that combines new planning and design strategies for a single purpose: To improve the area’s quality of life.   Many of the locations identified in the analysis are informal crossing points at roads and streets that aren’t marked as crossings.  People prefer to cross illegally at these points rather than walk to the safety of the nearest available crosswalk.  Many do so with no problem while…

17 Dec: A Victory for Collaboration

EfficientGovNetwork Awarded $100,000 Grant from the Local Government Innovation Fund About the EfficientGovNetwork  The Efficient Government Network is a group of Northeast Ohio stakeholders, primarily from political subdivisions who convene, connect and share ideas and best practices for local government collaboration. Created in the fall of 2010, the Network grew out of the EfficientGovNow contest (supported by the Fund for Our Economic Future and Advance Northeast Ohio). This competition gave birth to innovative ideas – and action – that targeted collaboration and efficiency. About the Award The grant, formally submitted by the Sourcing Office on behalf of the EGNet, will be used to turn the informal network into a sustainable organization that will facilitate and promote the acceleration of shared services and government collaboration in Northeast Ohio. More than a dozen partners from the private and public sectors, including the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce,…

14 Dec: Stark County Education Network for Environmental Sustainability

Are you interested in learning more about sustainability and what is going on in Stark County? The Stark County Education Network for Environmental Sustainability (SCENES) “facilitates the sharing of information, and takes advantage of  the combination of strengths, and opportunities in effort to raise community awareness and advance sustainable development and a healthy environment.” The project, led by Stark State College,  is supported by a consortium of colleges, universities and environmental groups in and around Stark County. Funding for this effort is provided by the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation. The SCENES website highlights eight focus areas: Advocacy, Building and Construction, Ecosystems, Energy, Green Business, Green Tips, Transportation, and Waste.  It also features ways to get involved and best practices occurring throughout Stark County. Visit the site at https://www.starkscenes.org/ or read their most recent newsletter by clicking here! What Can I Do Today? Act: Participate in the NEOSCC Fair Housing Survey Act: Drive to 500, only 85 to go…Like Vibrant NEO…

13 Dec: Sustainable Communities Across the Country

The Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium is only one of a number of Sustainable Communities grantees. Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published profiles describing some of the work other recipients are doing.   “Every now and then you’ve got to ask the hard questions.  The one we choose to ask is: How will the Southeast Florida Region evolve over time to ensure that the development of the knowledge-based economy of the 21st   century provides opportunity for the inclusive participation of all of the region’s residents?”  – Dr. Mark B. Rosenberg, President, Florida International University. Flint, MI is using a HUD Community Challenge grant to complete its first master plan since 1960, charting a new course for the community’s future. The Tomorrow Plan, Des Moines, IA’s three-year planning effort funded by a HUD Regional Planning grant, fulfills Central Iowa’s need for a unifying vision that addresses how future growth will affect the region….

NEOSCC and Vibrant NEO 2040 are largely funded by a highly competitive, first-of-its kind, $4.25M federal grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities Initiative. The Sustainable Communities Initiative is an interagency collaboration among HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.