Cleveland Really Does Rock: My Trip to Lake Erie’s Shore

Cleveland Really Does Rock: My Trip to Lake Erie’s Shore

Above: View of the west bank of the flats in Cleveland from the lower deck of the Detroit-Superior Bridge

In early December with the end of the year fast approaching, I realized I had some time off that I needed to burn. So I booked a quick trip to Cleveland.

Cleveland? Wait, what? Why?

That seems to be the reaction I got out of folks here in Boston. But truth be told, the urban enthusiast that I am, I was actually really excited to go visit this post-industrial city that I’ve read so much about but never experienced first-hand. And it didn’t hurt that I have friends living out there, to boot.

I can best summarize my 72-hours there by saying: Cleveland really does rock.

Some points of interest:

Airport/Transit:  The international airport was a breeze to get in and out of – well, aside from the unexpected snow that delayed us upon arrival. But the actual airport was small, easy to navigate and is pretty close to downtown Cleveland. Then, once on the road, there was virtually no traffic anywhere I went: to Tremont, to downtown, to the suburbs—clear roads awaited me. This is so unlike Boston, and so unexpected for a city in which everyone owns a car and is expected to drive.

That said, it’s a city in which everyone owns a car and is expected to drive. I was shocked that a city of this size could have such little public transit. Apparently, my friends told me, the train system was once an asset to the city. But after a spike in crime, ridership declined. There seemed to be quite a few public buses, so maybe this captured the former train riders.

Housing:  Housing in Cleveland presents the city with unique challenges and opportunities. First, the cost of living is a fraction of the national average. A legal downtown apartment charging only $1000 for rent would be unheard of in Boston, San Francisco or New York City—but not in Cleveland. And with decent homes selling for as low as $50,000, this presents an opportunity for people looking to get more out of each paycheck.

But the housing stock is deteriorating. The adorable single-family homes located near downtown (or conversely, the massive historic homes I saw in Tremont) are in major need of renovation which can be costly. As residents begin to move back to downtown Cleveland (there has been a 96% increase over the past decade), people are less eager to take on big home improvement projects. Instead, they are looking for new rental units or condos. Developers are building $350k condos in a market that just cannot support such prices (for that, people could buy large homes with backyards in the suburbs—and given that everyone, downtown or in suburbia—needs a car, city living offers fewer benefits as in dense, transit accessible cities).

Meanwhile, little rental housing is being built. While some rental buildings face 98% occupancy, developers still cannot decide whether new rental units in Cleveland will provide the returns to make the projects conducive. “Downtown needs more apartments, and it’s just that simple,” says Ralph McGreevy of the Northeast Ohio Apartment Association.

Food/Restaurants:  Who knew that Cleveland would have such great food? Among the places I visited were Ginko (Sushi, in the Midwest?!) Lolita, The Velvet Tango Room and—saving the best for last—Dante. All this great food didn’t even touch the places on the popular East 4th Street. What’s the secret to Cleveland’s growing food culture?

As pointed out back in August, Cleveland has found a way to leverage its food cluster. According to SustainLane.com, Cleveland ranks second in the nation for sustainability in local food. There are 30 farmers’ markets in the Cleveland metro alone. And as Green City Blue Lake notes, the  largest portion of Cleveland’s local food and agriculture cluster is in the retail and wholesale sectors (45% of gross regional product); followed by food services (31% of GRP).

Simply, restaurateurs now have access to two assets in Cleveland: (1) inexpensive restaurant space (often paying only one-fifth of the $150/sq. foot it costs in NYC); and (2) access to locally grown food. Many restaurants purchase their food daily from the West Side Market—a huge open-aired market that has resulted in a spike in nearby urban business development.

If a good food and restaurant/bar scene is one way to attract people back downtown, Cleveland is sure on the right track.

Waterfront Access:  After doing a tour of the once-vibrant Flats neighborhood along the Cuyahoga River, it became clear that the area still boasts potential for redevelopment.  Indeed, most of downtown Cleveland (particularly, behind the Browns’ Stadium and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame) is along Lake Erie. As Boston, Detroit and other cities are beginning to realize, this waterfront access can provide a prime opportunity for urban revitalization. A quick trip to Chicago would illustrate the success of a full-fledged waterfront revitalization effort.  Cleveland should be looking to reverse its trend towards sprawl by concentrating development efforts back downtown, especially along its waterways. Cleveland may even hold an advantage in that the architecture along the water (bridges, in particular - it's the only city with every type of bridge possible: from draw bridges and vertical-lift bridges to swing bridges) is so visually stimulating (at least to those of us who enjoy old industrial design). 

Clearly, there’s a lot happening in Cleveland. Sure, a better public transit system and more affordable rental housing would fantastic, but these are projects that cannot happen overnight—especially in cities facing tight budget constraints (as most nowadays are).

Despite needing infrastructure and housing upgrades, the Cleveland business community has been quick to point out that Cleveland already had most of what could make it a vibrant city. Larry Miller, president of Global Cleveland, noted just last week that:

There are five qualities that make up a successful city: Cost of living, access to health care, quality of life, cultural/sporting activities and weather/climate. “We have an advantage in at least four of them,” he said referring to the first four on his list. “Cleveland has a competitive advantage in terms of accessibility to all those things.”

And it’s true. Comparing the weather/climate of Cleveland to other major cities like Chicago, Boston and Minneapolis—cities whose talent Cleveland would like to attract—the climate is not much different.

With some minor tweaks needed along the way, it seems as though Cleveland is making strides in its urban revitalization efforts.  With the food cluster and healthcare/biomedical industry (with the Cleveland Clinic at the heart of this providing tremendous shared value for the local community) providing strong growth opportunities in the private sector, the public sector now must find ways to keep pace with the requisite transit, housing and zoning (i.e. for the waterfront development) policies that will ensure Cleveland is a sustainable, livable city in the future.

And to the skeptics, I urge you to visit the city and see what all the fuss is about. I’m sure glad I did.

Rock on, Cleveland. 

I do not have any particular expertise in this area either geographically or development wise but in California projects like this have often failed because half of the potential market for retailers and restaurants is in the water.  That means the other half has to have the economic strength and sustainability to maintain the economic infrastructure.  This usually means substantial initial investment. Something half built on the water will get leaks and sink.

By Brian G. Dowling on 12/24/2011

With only minor edits, Amanda could replace “Cleveland” with “St. Louis.” Amanda, I’m excited by your excitement and revelation that Midwest big cities are happenen’ places. As for Cleveland’s waterfront, I recommend you look up “Connecting Cleveland-The Waterfront District Plan” completed under the consulting guidance of JJR, circa 2005. I don’t know where implementation with that plan has gotten, but it recognizes many of the same assets and opportunities you discovered. I love Cleveland. Rock on.

By Bob Lewis on 12/26/2011

Not sure of the waterfront but I suspect the answer is a bit more global in nature. I spent a year in Ohio flying into Cleveland weekly and then driving west across the state. While there the tollroad fee increased by over 100%. A ridiculous price for the short distance. Local talk shows were dominated with union talk about “getting back to the good-ole days”, which ironically seemed to have destroyed the business climate they once had. $171MM is spent on public sector pensions. (Fl with 4.7MM more population spends 20% less, and TN with half the population spends 80% less). Monthly food stamps run over $250MM. Government per capita spending is not too bad compared to that neck of the woods ($5,007), but the potential to go up as more exit out is great (net migration from 2000 to 2009 was a negative 247MM). The state budget shortfall for 2011-2013 is in the 6-8 Billion range—hard to think about investment on the waterfront when government is going to find the most lucrative ways to go after funding for all the overhead and operating funds. (I acknowledge the Governor has suggested he has balanced the budget with no smoke and mirrors—time will tell what the impact is).

When we finished the project we certainly knew we would not look at that area again. I attempted to contact the governor’s office on their website regarding the impact of higher toll road fees, and government spending and never heard a word back even though the link stated “tell us how to fix Ohio”). If your going to act like you’re interested, then respond—you can’t ignore the business community if your looking for investment…

Unfortunately, a lot of work to be done before they can build confidence and entice new growth and development. One thing I will say is they have a very unusual opportunity in healthcare as they own major medical centers with millions of patient visits, and they have miraculously stayed away from a killer to healthcare growth and development as they still are not a CON state—a key component if Obamacare doesn’t ruin that.

Thanks for the opportunity to respond.

By Scott Bork on 12/26/2011

If you can look to the success of the waterfront revitilization done in Sault Ste Marie Ontario’s waterfront and avoid the mistakes made in Toledo, you will be in good shape.

A talented City Planner with a waterfront vision that can outlast the politicians is necessary. John Bain who was the “Soo’s” city planner was such a planner. Remember a dentist does not straighten your teth with a pair of pliers, hee does it with barely visable wires that straighten your teeth with slow steady pressure over a long time.
Politicians like to try to use the pliers technique so that they or their party will get the credit in their immediate term of office and deny another politician the credit. A professional civil servant can get more accomplished by convincing each sitting elected official that the improvement is their idea. If you can, you move ahead with a small piece of the project boldly, if you cannot, you lay low and lay the groundwork to move forward again when a new politician arrives. Too often an Urban planners charge to to make sure that the people of the community has a functioning potable water system, a functioning sewer, transportation and a parks and recreation department in spite of the politicians narrowly focused self interest.

By Tracy Mullins, AICP on 12/26/2011

While it’s true that there are a multitude of Farmers Markets here in Cleveland, the reality is that the West Side Market is not one of them. There’s only one produce stand at the WSM that carries locally-grown veggies—the Basketeria—but the rest of the outdoor vendors are selling produce that they purchased at the Northern Ohio Food Terminal, which ships in commercially grown foods from all over the country, and in some cases the world. To be fair, inside the market, where the bread and meat vendors reside, there are far more local producers, but outside, if you look behind the stands, it’s certainly not local. Insteaad of going to WSM, Chefs are more likely to go to the North Union Farmers Market at Shaker Square and Crocker park, to the Tremont Farmers Market, or the Kamm’s Corner’s market in Rocky River—but they’re more likely to buy direct from one of the multitude of small local urban farmers who are becoming more adept at selling direct than taking chances at a farmers market.

By Tim Smith on 12/26/2011

I think the question asks to accomplish too much. There is no magic bullet that can revitalize a city, Baltimore has one of the most successful waterfront revitalizations, its Inner Harbor, Nevertheless, the City continues to lose population as it has since 1950. That does not mean that all of the Inner Harbor investment and activity has been bad. Turning around older cities is likely to require many actions and much time. Actions that strengthen a city’s center tend support the long-term turn orund of the city. In New York, where the population had peaked in 1970 before declining significantly, many things contributed to the City’s rebound. After its fiscal crises in the 1970s, the City refocused it policies on making it more competitive, such as lowering taxes and with help fromthe state, improving the subways. Immigration was and remains hugely important. Reductions in crime beginning in the 1990s literally transformed the willingness of people to be there. So, it isn’t just physical investments. But physical changes are also important as well and each building block that a city can put in place provides more of a foundation for further improvements.

By Sandy Hornick on 12/27/2011





BY Amanda Maher on December 22nd, 2011

TAGS: cleveland | economic development | food | transit | housing

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