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Cleveland’s Older Suburbs Secure Revitalization Funds |
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Through the First Suburbs Consortium, 10 older Cleveland suburbs—Bedford, Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Garfield Heights, Lakewood, Maple Heights, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, University Heights, and Warrensville Heights—have joined forces to obtain funding for community development. Kenneth Montlack, chair of the consortium, states the group’s mission simply: "We can spend less if we invest in our communities before urban decay sets in." In the early 1800s, Euclid was larger than Cleveland. But Cleveland’s location on the Ohio Canal led industry, such as steel mills and heavy machinery manufacturers, to locate primarily there, and Cleveland rose in local prominence. The future of once-independent towns like Euclid now is linked closely to that of Cleveland. Cleveland and its inner-ring suburbs (or first suburbs) lie within Cuyahoga County (see map). This location—between the East Coast and Chicago, with Lake Erie to the north—has made Cleveland a busy rail intersection. Communities in the Cleveland area have grown from towns centered around industries such as milling and shipbuilding to suburbs whose infrastructure burgeoned in the post-World War II era. Three of these suburbs (Cleveland Heights, Euclid, and Lakewood) have become mid-sized cities. The Cleveland metropolitan area has become the focus of transportation—railways, shipping, and trucking—in northern Ohio. The Interstate highway system around Cleveland is both a symptom of and a catalyst for urban sprawl throughout the region: I-90 runs through Cleveland from east to west, I-71 stretches southwest from the city, and I-77 reaches south. A network of these and other highways pushes development continually outward from Cleveland and, in turn, away from its first suburbs. Problems grow, but funding lags. For consortium communities, the effects of outward development are dramatic. Shrinking tax bases and rising costs make their aging infrastructures more difficult to maintain. The increasing flow of traffic on larger roadways causes congestion and air pollution. The trend spirals as residents move away from the inner-ring communities in search of improved quality of life: As more people leave, more people join them in wanting to leave. Those without the resources to relocate easily are left behind. These patterns of disinvestment and flight are similar to those that affected the inner-city in past decades.
Despite similar problems throughout the region, available funding frequently targets larger, more troubled areas such as those within Cleveland itself, according to Montlack. The Cleveland Empowerment Zone has attracted millions of federal dollars in grants and low-interest loans in which the suburbs have not shared. The central city therefore pulls market resources away from its smaller suburbs, Montlack believes. Since 1988 the Ohio state government has channeled an average of $99.77 per person to areas in Cuyahoga County’s first suburbs, compared with $142.79 per person countywide. The result in the Cleveland metropolitan area is that the suburbs rarely receive much until urban decay has set in to a degree that is difficult to overcome without taking dramatic—and more expensive—measures. Seeking funding. Acting alone, these relatively small suburban jurisdictions lack the political muscle to attract state and federal funds. Recognizing that the communities in the shadow of Cleveland share a destiny, First Suburbs Consortium members—local elected officials and economic development specialists—began to work together in 1996. The officials committed themselves to understanding each others’ concerns and benefiting from unified financial and development planning. At meetings (scheduled as needed), members share information about approaches and joint solutions. This contrasts with the old way of doing business, in which suburban jurisdictions competed and kept their ideas largely to themselves. Montlack calls this the consortium’s internal cooperation effort. He characterizes securing funds from federal, state, and county sources as "foreign policy." Securing funds. The First Suburbs Consortium has turned toward the Cuyahoga County government with some success. Consortium suburbs have received funding under the county’s Brownfields Redevelopment Fund and eventually will receive a total of $15 million (based on the county’s bond issuance). The Home Enhancement Loan Program buys down interest rates on home loans to support private homeowners in rehabilitating their properties. The consortium also works with Main Street Connections, an Ohio firm that offers expertise on strategic planning for community redevelopment. Some funding for the Main Street Connections venture came from the county government. Much of it, however, resulted from the joint fiscal strategies of the consortium. Cooperation among its smaller suburbs led to grants from local banks and the Cleveland Foundation and the acquisition of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. This cooperation channeled a share of CDBG funding to the smaller suburbs as well as benefiting the three entitlement cities large enough to qualify for CDBG funds on their own. According to Montlack, the basic rationale for the consortium’s approach is that local leaders best understand local issues. Rather than adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, mayors and city council members can tailor their efforts toward community development that takes into account a region’s unique heritage. Since they live among the citizens whose interests they serve, these officials are far more likely than representatives of larger governing bodies to concentrate funding where it can have the greatest benefit. Reinvestment in older communities before they are overwhelmed by the concentration of poverty and its consequences makes sound financial sense, Montlack believes. The First Suburbs Consortium is an example of an organization that shows how fiscal creativity and regional cooperation might help fend off costly suburban blight in the future. For more information, contact: Kenneth Montlack, Chair, First Suburbs Consortium, 12434 Cedar Road, No. 3, Cleveland Heights, OH 44106, (216) 421-5800. Or see: Building Stronger Communities and Regions: Can the Federal Government Help?, a report by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), 1998. NAPA, 1120 G Street, NW, Eighth Floor, Washington, DC 20005.
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