Keep Akron Beautiful is encouraging all area residents to get involved in the 2013 Great American Cleanup™, by participating in the 32nd annual Clean Up Akron Month during April 2013. This year, we are cleaning up for an entire month, with the culmination event taking place on SUPER SATURDAY, April 27, 2013 at the Akron Zoological Park. We look forward to cleaning up with you, your civic groups and your families in April. For 32 years Keep Akron Beautiful has been working to recruit thousands of civic-minded volunteers to adopt a public parcel of land to clean during Clean Up Akr on Week. This year, Akron volunteers will be joined by volunteers from 1,200 affiliates of Keep America Beautiful around the country to participate in the Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup, the nation’s largest community improvement program that harnesses 4 million volunteers to build vibrant communities. Each year, we engage volunteers to take action…
Economic Development
In 2011, the Western Reserve Land Conservancy launched an effort to combat the devastating impact of abandonment and disinvestment on Northeast Ohio’s core cities. Entitled the “Thriving Communities Institute,” the initiative targeted the reduction of vacant residential properties, primarily through demolition. These properties, according to Institute Director Jim Rokakis, reduce property values in our neighborhoods. Studies show that one vacant property on a street will significantlyreduce the value of adjacent homes. Soon, due to loss of value, foreclosures and “bank walk-aways,” the nearby homes become vacant as the disease spreads. Soon the entire neighborhood is dead and diseased, having been destroyed by this contagious and toxic process. Then the adjacent areas are infected and the disease spreads further … predictably, relentlessly, and with devastating consequences. The impact of disinvestment in the urban core also has negative implications for the region’s natural environment. Depressed urban markets drive potential residents further away…
During the course of developing the NEOSCC Conditions and Trends Platform, we developed 33 findings across the subject matter areas of economic development, transportation, housing, the environment and quality connected places in Northeast Ohio. In order to communicate some of these findings, we have developed the Digi-NEO program which highlights different facts about the region’s successes as well as its challenges. Visit our Digi NEO Gallery to learn more about our region.
What are Vibrant NEO 2040 and Scenario Planning? 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! April 30: Oberlin (Lorain, Medina, and western Cuyahoga) Warren (Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula) May 1: Cleveland (Central Cuyahoga and inner-ring suburbs) Canton (Wayne and Stark)…
Northeast Ohio is home to a broad set of players in the agricultural-bioscience (ag-bio) sector, one of the largest and most influential sectors in the region. To better understand the potential of this diverse sector, the Fund for Our Economic Future sponsored an assessment to facilitate a more informed dialogue around the definition and scope of the ag-bio sector in Northeast Ohio, and identify high-potential areas which merit further exploration and/or investment. Based on a review of regional assets and potential opportunities by the Bush Consulting Group, the research suggests economic development efforts might focus on three areas of opportunity that could favorably impact the region’s economy, environment and labor diversity: Export-oriented cluster development opportunities such as packaged food and food safety, hardwood, and bio-polymers and composites Import substitution in local foods and beverage including beer, wine and spirits; and dairy-related industries Early stage support and start-ups such as alternative natural…
The Green Business Roundtable provides a platform for businesses, community members and public officials in the Stark County area to share information, best practices, and innovation toward improving sustainable business practices. Roundtable sessions are led by Green Business Expert, KIMBERLY W. BABCOCK, LEED AP ID+ C. Green Business Roundtable Spring Calendar February 12: Sustainability 101, Kimberly Whittington Babcock March 12: Measuring Sustainability, Bob Nappi, Director Human Resources and Facilities, North Canton Medical Foundation Lisa & Alan Frank, Owners, Ermanno’s Legendary Pizza April 9: Sustainable Community Relations, Christina Weyrick-Cooper, Community Relations Manager, North Canton Public Library May 14: Saving through Waste Management – Panel Discussion, Elaine Campbell, Grant and Development Director, Mercy Medical Center David Held, Director of STW Solid Waste Management and Mayor of North Canton Laura McElrath, Operations Director, Akron Marathon June 11: Energy Efficiency, Ryan Kopko, P.E., RKS Consulting & Commissioning July 9: Sustainability in Marketing, Joe Rosza,…
Smart growth development is compact and walkable and provides a diverse range of choices in land uses, building types, transportation, homes, workplace locations, and stores. Such development projects are attractive to private-sector interests because they can find a ready market and compete financially. They appeal to local governments because they can be the building blocks of a growing economy and high-quality, economically sustainable neighborhoods and communities while also helping to create a cleaner, healthier environment. Some of the advantages for developers, communities, and local governments associated with smart growth include: Compact development: Using land and resources more efficiently and redeveloping old or neglected areas while retaining existing infrastructure can create economic advantages for real estate developers and investors, businesses, and local governments. Compact development can generate more revenue per acre because it uses land more efficiently. It can reduce the costs of land and infrastructure for individual projects and the costs…
As a stakeholder in Northeast Ohio, you and your input can help to guide our region, to preserve and build upon the things we value most and ensure our communities thrive. Our organization, the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC), which is a collaboration of 33 organizations from across the 12-county Northeast Ohio region, understands and shares this responsibility. To help Northeast Ohio leaders and residents ensure that our region is sustainable, resilient, and vibrant, we have created a tool to help us better understand the existing conditions of our region. This tool is the NEOSCC Conditions and Trends Platform, located online at cat.neoscc.org. The Conditions and Trends Platform is a groundbreaking, comprehensive compilation of research about economic development, the environment, housing and transportation in 12 Northeast Ohio counties: Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull and Wayne. It helps Northeast Ohioans better understand the region’s…