Creating Quality Connected Places Vibrant, Resilient and Sustainable
A series of Work Streams have been created to organize the process. The Work Stream personnel consist of Consortium members, stakeholders and other subject matter experts from throughout Northeast Ohio. Throughout the process, the connections between the Work Streams will be critical in examining the region’s opportunities and challenges.
Economic Development
The Economic Development work stream will begin by assessing economic trends in northeast Ohio and its sub regions by concentrating on target industries that contribute to economic growth. In collaboration with the other work streams, the Economic Development team will identify development principles that contribute to a sustainable northeast Ohio economy.
Environments
The Environments work stream seeks to deliver an actionable plan for the protection of significant natural resources in northeast Ohio. By integrating existing plans for air and water quality, sewer and water infrastructure, parks and recreation, and energy resources, policy recommendations can be given that foster true implementation at each level of government. The work stream will identify important connections between the environment, transportation, and land use strategies with achievable outcomes. This includes tasks such as reducing availability of undeveloped land while simultaneously facilitating compact, infill, mixed-use, and walkable development. The plan will also seek to increase public access to parks, trails, local food, and other recreational amenities. The implementation of other useful tools, like facility siting, will help to remediate environmental degradation and mitigate environmental impacts.
Housing & Communities
The Housing and Communities work stream will recommend policies, practices, and priorities that are crafted to improve regional housing equity, access, and quality. Such suggestions will include energy-efficient, cost-saving alternatives to traditional solutions. The work stream will also value the individual communities and neighborhoods in northeast Ohio by promoting the growth of a healthy, safe, and walkable region.
Connections
The Connections work stream will work to guide the development of goals and policies for future infrastructure investments that will balance the needs of all transportation system users in the region. The Connections team will also seek to find ways to optimize access to each mode of transportation in order to connect people to jobs and destinations, move goods and freight, and lower transportation costs for users. In achieving these goals, the Connections work stream plan will help to foster the ideals of the other work streams such as reducing environmental impact and promoting vibrant, inter-connected communities and neighborhoods
Quality Connected Places
The Quality Connected Places (WCP) work stream will analyze the physical characteristics of northeast Ohio’s natural and built environments. The QCP work stream will identify typologies of housing, job centers, environmental systems, transportation networks and regional assets found throughout northeast Ohio.
Building on this information and the NEOSCC’s Conditions & Trends platform, the QCP work stream will work to answer four questions that have and should continue to shape what a Vibrant NEO look like:
• What are the characteristics of a Quality Community?
• What are the characteristics of a Quality Green-Blue Place?
• What are the characteristics of a Quality Job Center?
• What are the characteristics of a Complete Corridor?