VIBRANTNEO 2040

A VISION AND FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE OF NORTHEAST OHIO

Slide Slide VIBRANT NEO 2040 A Vision and Framework for the Future of Northeast Ohio

FULL REPORT NOW AVAILABLE

WATCH VIBRANT NEO: A VISION AND FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE OF NORTHEAST OHIO

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…

12 Dec: Local Food Systems: Helping entrepreneurs work together to grow business rooted in agriculture

  Local Food Systems is a project of the Agroecosystems Management Program of The Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and many collaborators in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.  Site development has been supported by a USDA Specialty Crops Research Initiative Regional Partnerships for Innovation Grant (posted here) as well as a structural change grant from the Fund for Our Economic Future in Northeast Ohio (information here). Local Food Systems strives to promote strong local and regional economies by offering tools that help entrepreneurs build business ecosystems rooted in agriculture. Entrepreneurs can use the tools on the Local Food Systems website to connect their business idea into a supply chain network of locally owned businesses, existing and planned, and together with other entrepreneurs and locally owned businesses find the capital needed to launch their businesses. Food is of particular interest both to entrepreneurs and consumers, hence the name localfoodsystems.org, but other basic needs like energy, equipment, services and materials that are part of agriculture…

11 Dec: Drive to 500! Vibrant NEO Socially Speaking

The Drive to 500! 2013 promises to be an amazing time for the Vibrant NEO effort and Northeast Ohio. In getting ready for the coming year, we are making an end of year Drive to 500 Facebook Likes. (I actually think we can get quite a bit more!) Share it with your friends throughout the region. You can like us here… Vibrant NEO on Facebook Our social media footprint includes the following different channels to keep up with our work Pinterest – our developing pins of great images and assets throughout the region Linked In – our growing business network featuring Vibrant NEO 2040 news as well as items submitted by members. Twitter  – our daily outreach through events, partners and dig-neo facts Facebook – our community and organization outreach and photos You Tube – our board and engagement video library What Can I Do Today? Act: Participate in the…

10 Dec: iNaturalist: Explore, Learn and Record

“iNaturalist is a place where you can record what you see in nature, meet other nature lovers, and learn about the natural world.” iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/) is a smartphone and web-based data gathering program designed to provide an ecological learning and teaching platform for amateur and professional naturalists alike. The world is full of naturalists and many hikers, hunters, birders, and beachcombers record their observations of the environment around them. If the record of observations is comprehensive enough, it may be possible for scientists and land managers to monitor changes in biodiversity, and allow anyone to use the comprehensive record of life to learn more about nature. A comprehensive record of nature is the primary purpose of iNaturalist. According to its website, iNaturalist began as the Master’s final project of Nate Agrin, Jessica Kline, and Ken-ichi Ueda at the University of California-Berkeley’s School of Information in 2008. Nate and Ken-ichi continued…

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.