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….
land use
In The Plain Dealer yesterday, Hunter Morrison, NEOSCC Executive Director and Jason Segedy, NEOSCC Board Chair contributed a guest column, “Finding the tools to keep Northeast Ohio’s future bright”, to the Forum section discussing NEOSCC, the Conditions and Trends Platform and Vibrant NEO 2040. Here is an excerpt from the piece: Admit it: You love Northeast Ohio. You love the people, or the history, the museums, the food, or the parks and the sports. For all of us, there are aspects of our region about which we are proud, unique qualities that make it a great place to live. We all want to see the things that we love about Northeast Ohio thrive and grow, just as we would like to see the challenges facing our region addressed and put behind us. The Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium works to help residents preserve and build upon what we value, and to fix…
Back in June, NEOSCC took its board meeting to Mahoning County. As part of our 12 Counties in 12 Months Program, the NEOSCC Board had an opportunity to tour some of Youngstown’s unique assets as well as some of the redevelopment work that is occurring. Part of the tour was led by Youngstown Neighborhood Development Council (YNDC), a multifaceted neighborhood development organization launched in 2009 in partnership with the City of Youngstown and The Raymond John Wean Foundation to catalyze strategic neighborhood reinvestment in neighborhoods throughout the city. YNDC highlighted some of the neighborhood revitalization work during the tour. We wanted to showcase a recent YNDC publication: Lots of Green 2012 Impact Report. YNDC’s Lots of Green program is a nationally-recognized, vacant land reuse strategy implemented in Youngstown neighborhoods by the YNDC and multiple partner organizations. The program engages residents and volunteers through several programs, including Iron Roots Urban Farm, Market Gardener Training, Community Gardens,…
One of the most interesting findings in the Conditions and Trends Platform is that 90% of NEO populations is within 1 mile of a park or a green space. The highest concentration of parks and protected spaces is in the center of the region, around the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Ravenna Arsenal in Summit and Portage Counties. There are, however, areas concentrated along the edge of the region that are further than two miles from a park or protected space. These areas include western Lorain and Medina counties, southern Wayne and Stark Counties, and parts of Ashtabula, Trumbull, and Mahoning counties. What Can I Do Today? Learn: Watch the NEOSCC October Board Meeting on You Tube Share your thoughts: Take the Bike Cleveland Northeast Ohio Biker Survey Act: Become a member of the Conditions and Trends Platform and let us know what you think about our findings
NEOSCC Consortium Member, the Green City Blue Lake Institute has launched a wonderful new website: The new site is based on a three-step process: Explore: Until you experience Northeast Ohio and the natural systems that support life here the soils, the water, the plants and animals, the climate it’s hard to know how to take care of this place. So the first step is to explore the bioregion, root yourself here, learn to love your home territory. Live: Empowered with the intimate knowledge of place, you can begin to improve your own life. You can lead a healthier, more fulfilling life that has less environmental impact. Transform: Beyond the changes you can make in your own life, we all need to work together on big, complicated things like the design of more sustainable cities, buildings, and transportation systems. We need a sustainability policy agenda and projects that transform the region. What…
With the weather, rainfall and flooding in the news, we thought it an appropriate time to discuss the Environment Work Stream findings. Are environmental conditions in Northeast Ohio getting better or worse? The answer to that question depends a lot on the type of environmental issue being considered. Here is a bit of a summary for rainy day reading. Since the 1970s, the region has made a lot of progress cleaning up what is typically thought of as “pollution.” Industry has reduced emissions from smokestacks and effluent pipes. Wastewater treatment plants are doing a much better job treating sewage. And some of dirtiest sources of industrial pollution have closed down or moved to places with lower environmental standards. As a result, the air and water are cleaner than they used to be. But other types of environmental issues have been harder to address. These are “nonpoint” sources of pollution —…