PAST THE POINT' ·ln$iCle··

seedSOf:NT~~~~~~:ovement OF NO. RETURN? o

From mastodon.s to maple syrup: ~ The prehistoric landscape ofthe.·Cuyahoga Bioregion

o Unfunded mandates are

greatly .exaggerated .

o S)ripping interestsrequired to help' .

testorethe Cuyahoga River o

Re-examining the.connections jJetween. sprawl and infrastructure

o Bicycle news '

o Bath residentsorgarnze

for open space o

Bioregionai Calendar, EGoCity Digest -.0

GooClWords we. have never.Ie.med;

or we have forgotten,

. thafihe environment is the b.sis fot aU life

and for aU production.

Rather than being an interest competing

with other interests for attention,

it is in reality the playing field

on,which all interests compete. ...-,Stephen V iederJ1lan

Jessie Smith ;Noyes Foundation

Cleveland needs . regional strategies to stem urban decline

.. It's taken ·Greater Clevelanders many years to overcome their collective inferiority complex and begin to call themselves the "Comeback City." So it was hard to listen · to David Rusk .when he came to town in December and said that Cleveland may very . well be "past the statistical point of no return. II

Rusk, the former mayor of Albuquerque, NM, has spent the past few years studying which American cities are succeeding or failing, based on mea~ures of poverty and racial segregation. He has found that healthy cities are those with metropolitan governments or other regional approaches for sharing responsibility for urban problems. Failing cities, like Cleveland, have been isolated by their surrounding suburbs.

Speaking at the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and the City Club, Rusk ·said that Cleveland's lIluch-heralded downtown developments--- . Gateway, the Flats, North Coast Harbor~are making it "a great p'lace for a yuppie lawyer to live. II But such developments have not, and will not alone, rev.erse the city's alarming slide into urban oblivion.

Continued on p. 8

HOME AT ECOCITY

Too depressing? "Your stories were so depressing. I felt guilty because this,horrible doom of

destroyed ecosystem is approaching, and I don't have the energy or will to

help ,more than I do ... " So wrote a woman in Geauga County to explain

why she was not renewing her subscription to EcoCity Cleveland.

It was an unusual letter. Most ~f our reader~ renew their subscriptions

and seem to find our stories useful and stimulating. So the woman's

plaihtive tone unnerved me. I could sympathize with her sense of being

overw'helmed, for we all feel that. But is EcoCity really so depressing?

Don't we cover a lot of positive

things people are doing to

protect and restore ecosystems

in OUf bioregion? And even

when we do write about all the

bad stuff, don't we try to point

the way toward understanding

and solutions?

We try to. 'And this issue is a good example. It deals with some ofthe

most depressing trends in Greater Cleveland-growing poverty and racial

isolation as the inner city is left behind by sprawling suburbs. But it also

points the way toward a new movement-a network of anti-sprawl '

constituencies- that could push for regional solutions.

"I ,can only vote," the woman went on in her, note. "Please cover

people/politicians/programs that you either discover, devise or develop for

which I could vote."

Okay, here are some questions for politicians about the key issues facing

our region .. Will they support some form of regional governance? Will they

speak up for the creation of low- and moderate income housing in all

communities? Will they support tax-base sharing between wealthy and poor

cities? Will they work to establish urbim growth boundaries to steer

development into existing urban areas? Will they develop regional plan's to

protect open space, watersheds and significant natural areas? Will they

change our transportation system to reduce the need to drive cars?

Our former subscriber may not fmd many local poliiic,ians willing to

champion such issues. After aU, they aren't elected to represent the region

as a whole. They generally have more parochial concerns.

But I hope she ,can fmd th~ time and energy to ask th'e questions. And I

hope the questions inspire her to gefinvolved in one of the many

2

organizations----our civil society- working for cbange

around the bioregion. Our collective future depends on it

- David Beach Editor

Mission EcoCity Cleveland is a nonprofit, tax-exempt,

educational organization. Through the publication of the Ec,oCity Cleveland Journal and other programs, it will stimulate ecological thinking about the Northeast Ohio

region (Cuyahoga Bioregion), nurture an EcoCity Net\vork among local groups working on urban and

environmental issues, and promote sustainable ways to 'meet basic human needs for food, shei.ter, ' productive work and stable commun.ities.

Board of Trustees lll.avid Beach) Director, EcoCity. Cleveland Robert Staib, Cleveland Division of the Environment Phil Star, Center/or Neighborhood Development, CSU Chris Trepal, The Earth Day Coalition

, Advisory Board Deborah Alex·Silunders,.J\1inority Environmental Assoc. Thomas Bier, CSU Housing Policy Research Program JalJ1es Bissell, ·Cleveland Museum of Natural History Diane Cameron, Natural Resources Defense Council Anne Chaka, Union of Concerned Scientists Edith Chase, Ohio Coastal Resource Mgt. Project Lee DeAng~lis, Environmental Careers Organizatiop Joho Debo, Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area Lois Epstein, Environmenial Defense .Fund Stuart Greenberg, Environmental Health Watch Lynne Hannah, Northeast Ohio Greens Soreo Hansen, interGraphic Engineering Ser.vices Kim Hill, Sierra Club Robert Jaquay, Cuyahoga County Planning Commission David Knapp, United Labor Agency Susan Lacy. Churches Acting Together for Change and Hope (CATCH) Craig Limpach, Wildlife biologist Elaine Marsh. Friends of the Crooked River Mary O'Shea, The Food Co-op Nonnan Robbins, CW,RU Program for the Environment Jerome Walcott. Commission on Catholic Community Action Roberta Wendel. Friends o/the Black Riv~r

Organizations listed for identification only. Articles in EcoCity Cleveland do not necessarily reflect the views of

bo~d members, ol~ough thcrc's a good chance they do.

• The EcoCity Cleveland Journal is published monthly at

2841 Scarborough Road, Cleveland Heights, Oli 44118, . Cuyahoga Bioregion. telephone/fax (216) 932·3007. Unlcss otherwise noted, all articles and photographs are by David Beach. Submissions from others are welcome, but please call fi(st. We cannot be resp,onsible for unsolicited materials. Copy deadline is the 15th of each month. .

Readers are encouraged to use the information in EcoCily Cleveland. Just call for permission to reprint articles. After you're finished with your copy .of the newsletler, pass it on to friends or recycle it. [f you are a regular reader, please ~ubscribe.

Supported by grants from the George Gund and Nord Family foundatioris, subscriptions and individual donations.

Printed at Orange Blossom Press in Cleveland on ·100% post-Consumer waste recycled paper using soy~baseo inks.

© 1995 Ecodty Cleveland

EcoCiTy ClEVElANd 0 January 1995

I

11

COSTS AND BENEFITS

'''Unfunded mandates" greatly exaggerated As the new Republican majority in Washington sets about to dismantle many of the environmental protections' achieved during the past 25 years, one of

. their slogans is I!unfund~d mandates." It's the notion that Washington requires costly environmental improvements at the state and local levels without providing funds to pay for them, and thus creates unwarranted burdens.

But a new report by the Washington­based Public Data Project says that

CPR for the Cuyahoga It's the dead zone of the Cuyahoga River-the stagnant, dredged, navigation channel that winds 5.6 miles through the Flats of Clevehmd. During part of the year the water in this stretch of the riveibas little or no oxygen to support aquatic life. Multiple sewer overflows dump or&anic pollution whiclireduces dissolved oxygen levels,.and the physical configuration of the deep channel permits little aeration.

complaints about unfunded mandates are greatly exaggerated. "The conventional wisdom is all wrong," says the report's author, David Sarokin. "Local communities afe paying tens of dollars per person, not thousands of dollars ~s is often cited. Overall , the costs are very

. reasonable given the improvements in environmental quality thathave occurred."

impacts, and so far their response bas been less than enthusiastic. They are saying, "You want us to pay how much to save some fish?!"

According to Ohio EPA's Bob Wysenslii, "11's the same response we used to get from industrial' dischargers in the early days of the Clean Water Act. They're not accustomed to enforcement."

To gerthe attention ofthe shippers and the Army Corps of Engineers (after more than a year of fruitless meetings), Ohio EPA is playing its trump card. It is 'withholding permission for the Corps' annual Cuyahoga dredging project until the Corps agrees to participate in a cost study of methods to increase oxygen levels.

'During the past two years, the Ohio EPA and members of the Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan (RAP) have analyzed this probl~m with computerized models of water flow and chemical changes. They have concluded that oxygen levels in the chaimel need to be boosted artificially, perhaps by blowing air into the This is a risky strategy. The Corps could

say. IIFine, we won't ~-----------~ dredge." Then, LTV

water, creating waterfalls or augmenting flow. ... the altered physical Steel might threaten to

Who's going to pay to do tbis? To find the funding, Ohio EPA.is looking beyond the usual polluters to the shipping interests that cause the channel to be dredged and channelized in the first place. This is the first time that local shippers have been held accountable for their environmental

configuration of the shut down, and Ohio Cuyahoga River navigation EPA would take channel is a primary cause intense political heat.

The outcome could for a complete lack of determine whether one

oxygen in a segment of the of the inost glaring channel and a.degraded water quality p'roblems

fishery resource throughout on the river can be the channel. fIXed any time soon.

And it will be a m'\ior -Ohio EPA to the test ofthe

Army Corps of Engineers; effectiveness of the DecemberZ8, 1994 RAP process.

EcoeiTY ClEVElANd 0 January 1995

Sarokin's figures are based on a new analysis of a 1992 report on environmental spending by Ohio municipalities (a report ·coordinated by the city of Columbus' and published by the Ohio Municipal League). This Ohio report has been a principal source of cost infonmition in debates on unfunded mandates and has fueled the national movement to revoke' such mandates.

The new analysis of information reveals: • The Ohio report is not based . on actual spending, but on projected costs to the year 200 i . The Ohio cities were essentially guessing. what their future costs would be . . • Estimates were based on worst-case scenarios, and

probably bear little relationship to actual levels of spending . . The Ohio report made costs appear higher by calculating them for households and per decade, instead of for indivduals per year. Thus, a modest cost of $25 per person per year for cleaner water could be translated to the much more daunting figure of $1 ,000 per household per decade. Not all Ohio cities participating in the Ohio Report shared the high degree of concern about unfunded mandates. Cincinnati limited its participatio~ in the project, citing a desire to deal assertively with environmental and health concerns, Much of the costs presented in the report are not linked to federal mandates, but would have to be spent anyway to replace aging infrastructures, such as sewer lines.

In addition to exaggerating the costs, 'the unfunded mandates movement also has ignOred many of the benefits of clean air, clean water and safe workplaces, as well as the fact that the public supports strong environmental protection. For inore information, contact the Public DataProj.ect, 3734 Appleton St. NW, Washington, DC20016, ielephone (202) 363-5856.

3

OUR PLACE ON THE PLANET

Fro·m mastodons to maple syrup

The prehistoric landscape

of the Cuyahoga ·Bioregion

This is the first in a three-part series .of articles- to appear in the coming year- on the changing I~ndscape oj the Cuyahoga Bioregion.

By Benjamin Hitchings

Western author Mary Austin once wrote that "The manner of the country makes the usage ofUfe there~ and the land will not be. lived in except in its own fashi9n." Here in the Cuyahoga Bioregion, we have spent the last 200 years trying to .discount this wisdom, instead treating the landscape like our personal sandbox. d

Yet extensive human modification ofth~ land is only a recent phenomenon, For eons, the Cuyahoga hioregion underwent drastic changes attributable solely to natural causes, an'd the human cultures that first inh!lbited it developed hirgely in response to this evolving' natural landscape . .

Land of ice About 70,000 years ago, the last of a series of glacial ages began. Like an evening campfire 'doused with water, the land became . lifeless, locked in a never-ending ~inter. Ice hundreds of meters thick covered the Great Lakes region.

This ItWisconsif!1t gl~cier reached its greatest extent around 15,000 . B.C. Then, gradually, the climate began to soften, summers lengthened, and the ocean of ice receded. Plants ~nd animals returned, and around 9,500 B.C. human populations began to move into the area.

To.daY, evidence ofthe Wisconsin g lacier is_difficult to ·see. The most tangible signs are the' ''glacial erratics" that dot the river valleys throughout the region . These igneous and metam~rphic boulders transported down .from .C~nada contrast with the sedimentary rock generally found at the surface in Ohio. The glacial till that serves as the basis for much of the soil in Northeast.Ohio provides additional evidence of glacial activity. The silt loam and sandy loam that characterize much of the region contrast with the clay-based soils found in unglaciated. parts or Ohio.

Life on the tundra imagine waking up one morning wrapped in skins and lying beneath

. a rock overhang, P~etend for a moment that instead of driving to work, you spe~t Y9l!f day chipping a 'spear tip out of flint, attaching it to a stick, and chasing animals as large as elephanis. If you had lived i~ the Cuyahoga Bioregion II~OOO years ago, that's what you would have done.

The earliest inhabitants of Northeast Ohio are known as the Paleo­Indians. They ,were hunters, dra~n to the area by the relative abund<!nce 9f large game. Archaeologists identify the remains of. these people by the presence of a special ,I fluted" projectile point, or . arrowhead, chipped from flint. Paleo-Indians attached ,these points to the end ofwoode~ spears.and used them to hunt mammoths, mastodons, bison, giant elk, cariboq, musk-oxen, and other "megafauna" that inhabited the region,

The climate at this time was comparabl.e to' the tundra found today in Alaska and Northern Canada, but perhaps a bit milder. Samples of prehistoric plant pollen indicate that the terrain included expansive meadows oflichen and herbs dotted ' with stands of spruce, fir, dwarf willow, and birch trees, This so-calle(:l "park-tundrall appears to have supported a ·greater amount of animal life than the tundra found today in northern latitUdes. Overall, the'landscape that emerged .following .the retreat of the glaciers was characterized by low­growing foliage and an abundance of water.

This low-latitude tundra, however, was only a temporary phenomenon. Gradually, a boreal forest dominated by conifers began. to replace the tundra in the Cuyahoga bior~gi.on. This in tum gave way to a deciduous forest as the glaciers continued their retreat to the north. Archaeologist Ronald J. Mason writes that "within a few thousand years of deglaciation most of the Great Lakes supported a deciduous forest of oak, hickory, birch, beech, and hemlock, with 'elm, maple, and basswood ·increasing with time."

As the vegetation changed, ~o did animal populations. By 8,500 B.C., most of the large animals had either fled north with .the receding tundra, like the caribou and musk-oxen, or ha~ disappeared

Illustration by the Cleveland Museum ofN~tural History

4 EcoCil)' ClEVElANd O · January 1995

[

altogether, like the mammoth and the mastodon. The extinction of these latter species coincides with the increasing pre.sence of the newly-arrived human populations. "':'hil~ Paleo-Indian populations were of an extremely low density compared with human populations today, some archaeol9gists speculate that they may have hastened the disappearance of these creatures. Nomadic hunters,. these people followed the herds'until a changing climate displaced the plants that the animals depended upon.

Adapting to hardwoods Ecosyst.ems that had retreated south during the Wisconsin Glacial

,Stage advanced steadily north as the climate grew more hospitable. This process culminated in the re-establishment of the hardwood forest around 8,000 B.C. In contrast to the tundra and the boreal forest, which supported a limited number of phint and animal species, the qeciduous forest hQsted a wid~ diversity of flora and fauna. '

One particularly sigl)ificant change was the relative size of the· animals. While the Paleo-Indians" could harvest large quantities of food ~t a time·by hunting the relatl~ely slow megafauna, the later Archaic Indians lived in 'a.Iandscape populated with smaller an.d swifter creatures. In this world, hunting did not yield nourishment as readily: To survive in this altered la\ldscape, Archaic .Indians began to supplement their diet with seeds, 'nuts, fish, 'and shellfish. Whife their predecessors had been hunters, the Archaic peoples, were hunter-gatherers.

This development is reflected)n the more varied "tool kitH assembled by these populations. Among other things, this period marked the advent of the mortar and pestle, used to grind plant .. food:;. Adaptations such as this improved the chances for survival. By the late Archaic period, human populations had grown dramatically, as evidenced by ·the substantial increase in the number and size of the prehistoric sites- uncovered from this time period.

Bows and beads The advent of ceramic pottery' is generally used by archaeologists to mark the end of the Archaic and the beginning of the Woodland Period around 1,000 B.C. In terms of lifestyle changes, this transition point is somewhat arbitrary. For the m,ost part, th~ Woodland Period ma!ked a continuation'ofthe technological. developments begun in the Archaic.

Tools continued to grow in complexity. Developments included bone fish hooks and slate sinkers that were attached to fishing nets, as well as the "atlatl," a throwing s"tick with ,a stone weight used to hurl a spear at game. Bows and arrows first came into usage . sometime after 900 A.D. Copper beads were also in wide .circulation, as evidenced by their presence at the Girdled Road Site in Leroy and Concord Townships in Lake. County.

Ouring the Woodland Pe_riod, human populations practiced a "modified nomadi,sm" that includ~d an increasing attachment to specific p.laces. They exploited a variety of foods, dependin·g·on

what was most.abundant at a given ,-------------~~-------~--------------_, time during the year. In this way,

their lifestyle became increasingly linked with the seasons.

Also during this time period, modern archaeologists were first able to link archaeological remains with specific cultural tra~itions in the Cuyahoga Bioregion. This led to a realization that the Portage Escarpment, which separates the Allegheny Plateau in the present-day "Heights" area from th~' Lake Plain below, n:tarked not only the interface of two environments:""-the plain~ to

'the west and the northeastern ·woodlands to the 'east-but also the contact line between two different cultural traditions that had developed in response to each landscap'e. To date, howeve:r, no archaeologist has , established any link between this prehistoric east-west cultural division and social differences felt in modem times.

Traces of indigenous peoples Farming the land Archaeologists generally point to the

These artifacts from the collection of the Cleveland Museum. of Natural History provide clues as advent of agric'ulture around 1,000' to how Native Americans lived in Northeast Ohio just prior to European settlement (1300-1600 A.D. as the beginning of the so-A.D.) The' artifacts were found in thdndependence area of Cuyahoga County. called Whittlesey Focus. Develo.ped

At the upper left are an awl for making holes, a bird bone bead, a bone pendant and a barbed in southern climates, the practice of bone tool. At center left are three arroW heads and a bipointed tool made of chipped stone. At farming gradually made its way bottom left are aground stone pipe and a type of ax head called a "celt:" At right is a large northward. Its adoption by people in fragme~t of a pot and three fragments of decorated pot rims. . this region radically increased their ~~~--~--~--~--~--~----~----~----~ EcoCil)' ClEVElANd 0 January 1995

5

-attachmeJ.1tto specific places. from animal teeth, clay pipes, nbeamers~' fashioned from deer bone

In addition to providing a source of food that could be stored 'and used for removing the hair arid other parts from animal skins, bone consumed throughout the year, agriculture gave people a greater "planers" for removing the bark from arrow shafts, and bone needles .incentive to stay in one place. After making the investment of labor . for sewing. ·that agriculture required, inhabitants were not inclined to leave until . One interesting fact to note is the complete absence of European the crops had been harvested. They wer:e also ~ _____________ '""I trade goods at the various Whittlesey sites.

more inclined to protect their investment. This For eons, the Cuyahoga While trade goods from other Native American change in land use not only encouraged people cJ, cultures had made their way to the area, material Bioregion un erwent to become more sedentary. but also to begin culture from Europe still had not arrived. Soon, defending their land. Increasingly, land became drastic changes however, this changed dramatically. "territory" controlled by a specific tribal group. attributable solely to

Trade wars Artifacts uncovered at the Reeve Site in natural causes, and the In recent years, there has been much debate over which group of Native Americans last occupied Northeast Ohio prior to European settlement. A number of historians have maintained that tpis group had to be the Erie. This argument was . based largely on a reference by Jesuit missionaries in 1641 to th'e Erie or nCat Nationn

Eastlake demonstrate the increasing practice of human cultures that first agriculture. The Indjan Museum of Lake County has specimens of hoes and spades made of stone inhabited it developed and animal bone. . largely in response to

Located on a bluff overlooking the Chagrin this evolving natural Ri~er, the Reeve site had a nuinber of ' landscape. advantages. The river pr<;lvided a route for travel , both inland and out onto Lake Erie. In addition,

'-------~--------' that was said to inhabit the southern shores of Lake Erie. Archaeological evidence; however, indicates that the Erie Nation probably did not extend much farther west than present-day Erie, Pennsylvania.

it yielded fish and provided fertile and well-watered' soil for growing crops. The high bluff may have also provided protection from hostile tribes. For many years, archaeologists thought such bluff siteS throughout Northeast Ohio were the remains of late prehjstoric forts. Recen.t study, however, has provoked a re- . evaluation ofthis assessment. Ex"cavatiop at the Greenwood Village site in the Cuyahoga Valley has revealed a style of construction similar to that of ceremonial earthworks in Southern Ohio, leading experts ·to·conclude that these structures had ritual rather than

Obscuring the whole issue -is the general problem of tribal conflict and dislocati.on that characterized the region during this time period. The Cuyahoga Bioregion may even have been essenti~lly unoccupied for large stretches of time. One theory maintains that the Whittlesey Culture evacu~ted · the area prior to the arrival of European trade goods. When thes~ goods did arrive, al~mg with traders and soldier!:" NaJive Arnerican efforts to control- the trade with Europeans led to widespread confli~t b~tween tribes. The result in Northeast Ohio was a series of brief occupations by a variety of different tribal group<.

rnilitary s ignificance. Artifacts at the Reeve site ·also illustrate the food sources utilized .

by the Native American oceupants. Remains found in fire .pits and trash heaps at the site indicate that the inhabitants hunted everything from rabbits and squirrels to deer, black

. bear. and wild turkey. Fish in their diet included channel catfish, white bass, and yellow perch. Foods that were gathered included freshwater mollusks and snails. hickory nuts, grapes, and blackberries. The inhabitants cultivated white potatoes, beans, watercress, sweet potatoes, ~ild onions, and peas. In addition, they brewed drinks from sassafras bark and herbs, and drank the sap they collected from maple trees. As these foods indicate, agricult.ure may have helped srnooth out.the seasonal fluctuation in the food supply, but populations in the Cuyahoga Bioregion still depended heavily on hunting and gather.ing for their sustenance.

Tools used during this period . included mortars a.nd pestles for grinding grain, and "celts" made of granite and ·slate for skinning anirn-als. Other items consisted offlint knives, bone awls, flint drills, necklaces made

6

By the time Moses Cleaveland aod his party of surveyors landed in 1796, . Prehistoric' periods

of human occupation . in the Cuyahoga Bioregion

" the Cuyahoga bioregion had been partially abandoned by indigenous peoples. Dispatched by a group of land speculators known as the Connecti~ut Land Company,

• Paleo-Indians (9500-8000 B.C.): The first humans to occupy the Cuyahoga bioregion, the Paleo~Indians were \'Jig-game hunters who pursued mastodons, bison-, and other large creatures across the tundra that formed in the wake of . the retreating glacierS'. < •

• Archaic Period (8000-IOOOB.C.): As the climate grew ' Walmer, the hardwoo~ forest returned, causing human populations to shift to hunting smaller game and gathering seeds, nuts, fish, and shellfish ..

• Woodland Period (1000 B.C.-1000 A.D.): This period is marked by the advent of ceramicpottcry and the continued evolution· of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. T~chnological innovatio~s inclUded bows and arrows and fishing nets.

• WhittleseyFocus (1000-1600 A.D.): During this time, human occupants adopted the practice of agricult1)re, ctramatical!y increasing their attachment to specific places .

• Proto-Historic Period (1600-1720 A.D.): This period was a tini~ of tribal conflict and dislocation resulting in part from efforts to c6'ntrol the emerging trade in European goo.ds. A number of different tribal groups occupied the region~ for brief intervals.

Cleaveland's men spent the next two years dividing up the Western Reserve for sale to settlers from New -England.

The arrival of the surveyors, then, ' marked the final stage in the displacement of one culture by-another ' - a change that would have profound effects for the bioregio·n. The history of these changes is the story of our increasing separation from, the land. 0

Benjamin Hitchings was trained as a land lise historian and works as the ~·taff person for the Grassroots Environmental Caucus. This article was adaptedfrom A Land Use History of Penitentiary Glen Reservation, which Ben wrote for Lake Metroparks. For more information, call 791·8043.

To learr! more about the prehistoric landscape and peoples oj Northeast Ohio, visit the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 231-4600, and the Indian Museum of Lake .County, 352-1911.

EeoCiTy ClEVElANd 0 January 1995

SPRAWL

EcoCiT)l ClEVElANd 0 January 1995 .

Challenging the values that promote urban sprawl Thefol/;wing perspective on urban sprawl in Northeast Ohio comes from a corporate insider .. -!ack Lica/e, former director of Build Up Greater Cleveland, a program based at th~ Greater Cleveland Growth A~sociation. which promotes economic development through enhancement of the region's infrastructure. Licate recently became director of government sponsored programs at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. This article ;s his farewell column/or the B;tild Up Greater Cleveland newsletter. Infrastructure Update (NovemberiDecemQer 1994).

• By Jack Licale

Infrastructure policy is central to any .discussion of urban sprawl. Infrastructure is tied in a complex way to land~use decisions, yet public~works expenditures are oflen made with little or no reference to their potential impact on the landscape. Many critics often blame this discrepancy on the traffic engineer, who they claim has been insensitive to the land~use impact of his or her decisiQns .. Other critics blame planners for proposing unrealistic and unworkable so lutions to make our cities more viable.

Both sides generally agree that infrastructure expcnditures since World War n have had an unequal impact on different parts of the region. The cities--Cleveland, A~ron, Canton and Lorain-Elyria- have lost residents and employers. They have suffered from increased racial and income segregation, impeded access to jobs, inequitable access to transportation and the abandonment of large tracts of potentially usable land already served by a developed infrastructure system.

On the other hand, suburban and rural areas have seen much of their character disappear as they have had to provide the infrastructure to support new residents and jobs.

The map on· the back page of this issue shows· Northeast Ohio~s pattern of dispersed, low~density, metropolitan areas which have physically and economically, ifnot socially, coalesced into a sprawling mega~city. Discussions of how public~works investments can effectively alter this situation must begin with the realization_ that infrastructure investment decisions are not made in a vacuum unrelated to other community priorities. Northeast Ohio's urbanized landscapes resull from thousands of individual decisions based on deeply held

cultural values about the ownership and use of private property. These values are stable and widely held, but not unchangeable.

In order to rectify the worst effects of urban sprawl_in Northeast Ohio, we must change the value system that caused them. To do that, we can start with a simple question that a cross-section of people will consider to be valid: "How can we make our central cities competitive again, and how can we preserve the character of suburban and rural Northeast Ohio?"

One answer that we knoW won't work-it's already been attempted-is to divert highway funds from one area to another with little or no justification.

Here are three points that might be the basis for the desperately needed discussion 0':1 how to address urban sprawl:

• Infrastructure planning and land-use planning must be better coordinated.

. While thaCs more easily said than done, the most practical place for this to happen is in the region's metropolitan planning organizations (Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, Akron'Metropolitan Area Tran.sportation Study and Stark County Area Transportation Study). They have the staff and the Congressional mandate to take such an initiative, and they have the capability to bring larger number~ of citizens into the planning process.

• Local political subdivisions or public­private partnerships need to take the initiative in. shaping their physical futurt:s. Notable efforts to that end include Cuyahoga County's work addressing problems posed by abandoned urban industrial land, and Summit. County's lead in acquiring abandoned rail lines with a focus on possible use for commuter rail lines into central Akron.

• The potential role. of public transit as an urban economic development tool must be refined. For example, discussion of Cleveland's proposed Dual Hub project has focused on traditional issues. Instead, we should give serious consideration to how the funds for its construction could be leveraged. to attract additional public .and private monies for reshaping·central Cleveland's physical form to better attract and retain employment opportunities.

As a community, we have not spent enough time di scussing such issues, and the ·result has been unchecked' urban sprawl. If ~e ma~e the effort to redefine our values, it's not too late to change course. 0

7

-SPRAWL

Environmental nightmare .. . Overlaying this

socio-€conomic

polarization is an

enVironmental

nightmare. As, the' ,

wave of socio­

economic decline rolls

outward from the ci,ty

and older suburbs,

tides of middle-class

homeowners sweep

into fringe

. communities.

Growing communities

in turn use expensive

home zoning to

"protect themselves:'

and to compete for

tax base. In so doing,

they lock the region

into low density

development patterns .

that are fiscally

irresponsible, foster

automobile

dependency:

cOr:ltaminate

groundwater, and .

needlessly destroy

tens of thousands of

acres of forest and

farmland.

8

-Minnesota

state leg islator

Myron Orfield

Point of no return? Fromp. I

Rusk cited the ominous trends: • Cle~eland is increasjngly becoming the

poorhou·se of the region. The city's .

• uFair shareU housing policies (supported by planning and zoning) that will encourage the development qf low- and moderate-income housing in all jurisdictions of the metropolitan area .

poverty rate jumped from 17.3 percent I----~---------~-------,

in 1970 to 28.7 percent in 1990. The ~~:-_ number of l'povertyu census tracts in the -city (those with more than 20 percent poverty) grew from 64 to 147 during the same period. And the number of "hyper poverty" census tracts (those' with more than 60' percent poor) grew ftom one to 21.

• Poverty in the region has taken on the appearance of apartheid. Overall, the area has nearly as many poor whites as poor bla~ks. but poverty is much more concentrated in the' black community of the inner city. Almost two out of three poor whites live in m!ddle-class neighborhoods dispersed throughout the region, while nine 'out often poor .blacks live in poverty neighborhoods. Cleveland is the fourth most segregated city in the nation behind Hammond, IN; Detroit; and Chicago.

Fingers in the dike? These kinds of s.obering statistics have been cited before, such as in the reports of the Council for ~conomic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland. Boosters of the "Com.eback City" do recognize the · ­challenges. But they maintain that we are already . responding effectively. They say that strategic investments in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and other attractions will make Cleveland a tourist destination and create jobs. They point to neighborhood-based programs to retain industry and build new housing. They brag about the new federal Empowennent Z(;me, which will bring concentrated 'investment to three neighborhoods on Cleveland's east side. We're making progress, they say. We are turning things around.

Critics like Rusk respond that such programs are important"and good, but they can't overcome the regional forces of urban ~prawl and inner city decline. ~o city has successfully carried out an inner-city, neighborhood-centered strategy sufficient to reverse the city's decline, Rusk said. qften, the persons who b~nefit from such programs are able to moye out to better communities, leaving poor "neighborhoods more isolated than ever.

A metro strategy . Rusk's alternative is a metropolitan strategy--one that is far more politically controvers.ial than anything attempted in Greater Cleveland. It would involve at least the following four policies to reduce racial and eco!1omic segregation:

• Fair employment and fair housing policies to ensure full access by minorities to the job and housing markets . " • Housing assistance policies to disperse low­

income families to small-unit, scattered-site housing projects and to ~ent-subsidized private rental housing throughout a diversified metropolitan housing market.

• Tax-sharing arrangements that will offset tax­base disparities between the central city a~d its suburbs.

In his recent book, Cities Without Suburbs, Rusk writes: "In baldest te"rms, sustained success requires moving poor people from bad city neighborhoodsto good suburban neighborhoods and moving dollars from relatively wealthy

" suburban governments to poorer city governments. The long-term payoff will be an overall reduction in poverty, dependency, and crime areawide, and 'prosperous cities [which] are the key to vital _ regional economies and to safe and healthy suburbs. '11

The state and federal governments must playa strong role" to promote such metropolitan strategies, Rusk adds. For example, the state government must:

• Improve annexation laws to facilitate central city expansion into urbanizing areas.

• Enact laws to encourage city-county consolidation through local initiative or to reorganize local government by direct state statute.

• Empower county governmertts with all " munIcipal powers so that they can act as de facto

metro governments where appropriate. • Require all local governments in metro areas

_ to have "fair share ll affordable housing laws. • Establish metrowide tax-sharing

arrangements for local governments, or use state aid as a reve~ue-equalizing mechanism.

EcoCiT)' ClEVElANd 0 January 1995

I i

. Could such policies be enacted in Ohio? Certainly it's hard to imagine a local politician brave enough to suggest that growing suburbs like Solon or Hudson should build low-income housing -or' share tax revenue with Cleveland or Akron.

People regionalism But a handful of metro areas in the nation- including Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chattanooga and. Rochester-are doing such things. They have embraced what Rusk calls "people regionalism," in addition·to the more common "things regionalism." ·(e.g., regional sewer or park districts):

"These are com.munities that are ~orking on acting like a region," Rusk said during his recent visit. "They have a high level of engagement over the i ssu~ of disparities."

In the Twin Cities area, for example, cemmunity activists and a courageous ~tate legislator. named Myron Orfield have worke.d to strengthen thei,Metro Council. They showed that the cities, older blue-collar suburbs and rural areas were all being vi6timized by high­end growth in outer suburbs. And they put together a political coaliti,?n of those interests to level the playing field. In addition to preserving the region's tax-base ·sharing 'program, they have worked to require low- and

. moderate-income housing in all communities, reduced tax incentives for selling fannland to developers, and placed regional sewer and

water authorities under metropolitan control so that growth can be managed better at the regional level.

Organizing a force for change The same arguments about who is hurt by present patterns of development that have been influential in the TWin Cities could also win in Cleveland, according to Rusk. [See our id-eas for an ·anti-sprawl network on p. 11 .] : "The caSe is waiting to be made-py the · central city, older suburbs and really by ·all of Cuyahoga ~o~nty, which is passing into a

. phase of decline as a whole," he said: The case ·could also be made by the business

. community, which needs an educated, productive workforce. Or by taxpayers who must pay to duplicate city infrastructure in neW suburbs.

"The European cities with wliich we compete don't simply discard an earlier generation's capital investments," Rusk noted. "They don't incur that burden."

The case for regionalism eQuid also. be .made by environmentalists, who decry sprawl's impact on fossil ~el consumption, air pollution and land use. Envireiunentalists would add, however, that it's not enough just to reduce fiscal diliparities, We also need sensible land ­·use planning at the regional lever to steer development and keep cities geographically compact. We-need policies such as urban growth boundaries and green belts. Allowing

Where the growth is the central city to annex surrounding communities (like Columbus does) might keep middle-class residents and tax base within the city limits, but it won't stop sprawling land use.

Residential real estate assessed value % change, 1983-1993

City of Cleveland 1.2

Inner suburbs (Cuyahoga) 7.6

Outer sUburb.s (Cuyahoga) 37.0

Total Cuyahoga 17".0

Western Geauga 50.2

Western Lake 11.0

Eastern Lorain 19.9

Northern Medina 21.1

I'!orthwest Portage 26 .3

"To end Cleveland's isolation you need a regional solution," Rusk concluded. "You need to open up economically and racially: .. lfyou don't, it will affect the economic competitiveness of th.e entire region)'

-We should strive for a society of "balanced opportunity," he said. "We are not well served by the abandonment of the inner city and the movement ever outward,"

In Greater Cleveland, our civic leaders have raise'd the possibility of regional cooperation to finance footbaJI stadium renovations for the Browns. What we need are

PR paradox There's a story going

around .town that illustrates·

how hard it is for public

officials to keep Cleveland'S

urban reality in mind asthey

strive to sell the city and ·

promote development.

During the competition to

be designated a feae(al

Empowerment Zone several

months ago, Cleveland ·

Mayor Michael White w~s

taking some top officials

from the Department of

Housing and Urban

Development on a tour of .. . the city. At the fi(st stops he

showed off all the j;lositive

things happening in the

neighborhoods-the usual

pitch about public-private

partnerships andurban

renaissance.

But it soon. became

apparent that the folks from

Washington wanted to hear

more about how distressed the city was in order to

·justifY federal funding. So at

the next stop, White

reversed his rhetoric and

gave the bad news. He

wam't being duplicitous. It's

just that the job of big city

mayor requires him to

experience cognitive

dissonance-holding Northern Summit 72.8 leaders willing to advance regional · opposite i·mages of the city

solutions for the far more serious Total adjacent counties 28.1

Real change after inflation Prepared by the Housing Policy Research Program. Cleveland State University

EcoCiI)! ClEVElANd 0 January 1995

problenis of raci.al segregation, economic disparity and sprawling land use. 0

in his mind at the same

time.·

.Lr/>O,." The toughest issue r""'Jf;~~;;~~ Enterprise zones, community development

. banks, nonprofit inner-city housing developments- ali the tools of "empowerment"-ar~ not futile efforts. They will produce some new businesses, some' new jobs, some new homes, and some revitalized neighborhoods. They will be more effectiv,e, however, if carried out within.a framework of actions to 'bring down the walls between city and suburb. Absent efforts at reunification, such programs wi ll be unable to reverse the downward slide of the inner cities ...

Throughout history cities have been the

arena of opportunity and upward mobility. In America the "city" has been redefined since World War II. The real city is nOW the whole

. urban' area---city and suburb-the metropolitan area. Redeeming inner cities and the urban underclass requires reintegration of city and suburb.

This is the toughest political issue in American society. It goes right to the heart of Americans' fears about race and class. There ' will be no short-term, politically comfortable solutions.

~~~jA movement to heal the ·cities Sustained change will require a grassroots productivity of inner city residents and burden

1~~~~~~~~~1 movement like the civil rights movement or society with growing costs of dependency and ~ the environmental movement. This new social disruption?

movement will be tougher to begin. The civil In a capital-scarce society would we choose rights moyement in the 1960s mobilized moral to discard the tremendous investment in the outrage against Jim Crow laws. The inner citi~s? environmental movement in the 1970s [n a world of fragile interdependence would

_o.c.~/~ \I reflected compelling concern with human we choose to have the suburbs survive as ~'hil'-/~-\h survival on a despoiled planet. But for the independent and prosperous communities

movement against urb3.!1 segregation to get ofr while the inner cities collapse at the the ground in the 1990s, a clima:te of metropolitan core? perception, a climate of support, and a climate In a world in which the technology of of change must be created. ' violence can touch anyone, would we choose

Over 80 percent of all minorities now live in .to live in a garrison state where police power America's metropolitan areas. A racially tr ies to seal off the have-nots from the haves? equitable society can be achieved only if urban These "choices" suggest where the racial America ts changed. Conversely, solving the and economi~ segregation of urban America is problems of cities requires addressing the city- leading. The crisis requires not just urban aid suburb schisms that have developed since or even a true "urban policy" but a World War II. commitment to a spirit of shared sacrifice and

This is a journey on which few may initially renewal. The crisis requires exchanging the choose to embark. But consider some of the old politics of exclusion for a new politics of alternative choices. inclusion. It will test whether or not the

In an increasingly global economy would American people can develop a new spirit of we choose to sacrifice the talent and community.

-David Rusk, excerpted from his book,. Cities Without Suburbs, 1993

Seeds of an anti-sprawl movement On the previous page. urban critic David Rusk caUs for a grassroots movement to heal America's cities-a movement on the scale of the'civil fjghts movement or the environmental movement. It woul~ involve all the constituencies harmed by the sprawling development patterns around our metropolitan areas,

how~ver, they would make a powerful political force. Below we offer ~ preliminary list pf such constituencies. Then we 'list some of the organizations-in the city and the country- that are already working on pieces ofthe sprawl problem.

Linking the city and country is key, for we have to fight the sprawl battle at both ends. We have to revitalize-inner~city neighborhoods so people will want to move into them, And we have to stop subsidizing the sprawling development on the metropolitan fringe, which saps the strength of the c;entral cities.

A movement is needed because in places lik~ Northeast Ohio the scale of our existing political institutions (local and county government) does not match the regional scale of our problems. Eve'ry mayor and cou!1ty commissioner is looking out for his or her own turf, No <?oe is eJected to represent the region (although there might be room for a state representative or senator to speak out).

frail the constituencjes hurt ·by sprawl could be organized,

In the coming months we plan to talk more about how to coordinate a network anti-sprawl organizations and projects. (Can you imagine a network called the Friends of the Western Reserve?) We would appreciate ideas from readers.

Constituencies hurt by sprawl and urban abandonment • Residents of declining inner-city

neighborhoods, with all their community development organizations whose hind work is being undermined by outmigration.

• Residents of older, inner-ring suburbs, who are also victimized by the spreading disinvestment (and who typically have fewer resources and amenities than the central city with which to stem ·decline).

• Everyone who can't drive-children, senior ·citizens,. people who can't afford a car.

• Institutions with fixed investments in the city-churches, schools, hospitals, arts organizations, banks, utilities.

• Environmentalists working to protect natural ·.areas and wetlands, save energy, and prevent air pollution.

• Transit and bicycle advocates. • Fair and affordable housing advocates. • The many ad hoc groups fighting Wal-Marts,

highway interchanges and road widenings in their communities.

• Historic preservationists. • Country residents who want their

communities to remain rural . • Farmers who want to keep farming without

the threat of encroaching subdivisions. • Business leaders who realize that their

sprawling metropolitan areas will have a hard time competing with compact, efficient cities in Europe and Asia.

• Developers who are tired of fighting anti­development NIMBYs and who would like .to see a consensus on where development is appropriate.

Parts of an anti-sprawl network • . Governments of central cities, inner-ring

suburbs, exurban townships-United action . on economic disparities and sprawl.-

• County pJanning commissions and metropolitan planning organizations

EeoCiTy ClEVElANd 0 January I 995

F

(NOACA, AMATS)-'-Joint land use and transportation planning in the multi-county region .

• Urban research programs at Cleveland State UniversitY .and the University of Akron-Studies of housing trends and outmigration impacts.

• Other university partners (Case Western Reserve University Center for the Environment and Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Oberlin, Kent State, community colleges) .

• Neighborhood development organizations (Cleveland Housing Network and member groups, Cleveland Neighborhood Development Corporation and member CDCs, Center for Neighborhood Dev.elopment at Cleveland ·State, Neighborhood Progress Inc.)-Greater attention to the outmigration trends that undermif!e their work.

• Anti-poverty programs (Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland, Cleveland Community-Building lnitiative}-Regional solutions for poverty.

• Fair housing organizations (Metropolitan Strategy Group, Cuyahoga Plan, Greater Clevelanders for Fair and Affordable Housing)-Support for low- and moderate­income housing. in every municipality.

• Public housing authorities-Scattered site housing and rent vouche·rs .

• Park districts-Cooperative projects to preserve open space on a regional scale.

• Land conservation organizations (Land trusts, Trust for Public Land, Nature Conservancy)-Land protection in the path

. of development. . • Transit agencies in the

region-Investments to make cities more livable and transit-oriented.

• Environmental organizations (Sierra Club, Earth Day Coalition, Citizen Action, etc.)-Support for transportation alternatives, compact development, sustainable communities .

• Watershed organizations (Cuyahoga and Black River Remedial Action Plans, Grand

. River Partners, Friends of the Crooked River, Friends of the Slack River)-Action to stop suburban development's destruction of streams; restoration of urban creeks.

• Sprawl-Mar1: foes-Qrganization _at the regional level.

• Cleveland Museum of Natural History~ Basic research on ecology of the region ,

• Religious groups. (Catholic Diocese, Interchurch Council, Jewish Community Federation, CATCH)-Moral arguments against sprawl , sist~r church relationships between city and suburb,

• Schools-Sister schoQI relationships between city and suburb.

• Environmental education (Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center, Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, Shaker Lakes Regional Nature Center, Great Lakes Science Museum)-Programs to increase awareness of the bioregion and the natural limits of life here.

• Farms- Links between farmers on the edge of the metro area and consumers in the city.

. • Arts organizations-Cultural critiques of suburb·an sprawl,' celebrations of urban life.

• Business organizations (Greater Cleveland Growth Association , Cleveland Tomorrow, Build Up 'Greater Cleveland,. Akron Regional Infrastructure Alliance)-Business locations and infrast.ructure investments to revitalize central cities instead of promoting sprawl.

• "Good governm~nt" groups (Citl:zens· League)-Ideas for regional governance.

• Utilities (water, sewer, electric, telephone)-Promotion of compact development patterns instead of facilitating sprawl.

• . Real estate. industry-Goal of steady appreciation of real estate values in existing urban areas instead of speculation on the suburban fringe ..

• Computer FreeNets-Regional information and ' discussion groups in cyberspace,

• Media-Coverage of sprawl and disparity issues in a coordinated, comprehensive way.

• EcoCity Cleveland-Ideas, coordination, citizen planning.

11

-

ECOCITY DIGEST

Bath residents mobilize Residents in Bath Township ha~e been organizing furiously to preserve one of the largest tracts of uri developed land left in Northeast Ohio-the· l,500-acre estate of the late Raymond Firestone. The former head of Firestol?e Rubber bequeathed the land to Ohio State University for $5 inillion·, and now the uni.Yersity is studying how to develop the site at a profit. .

A grassroots group, Bath Open Spaces, has been meeting at 7 p.m. every Sunday night in the Historic B.ath Township Hall to plan how to maintain the estate's open fields and wooded hills for recreational uses. Residents are working with the Medina COti~tY Park District, which is interested in acquiring a portion of the estate which lies in Medina County, and the Revere Schoo.1 District~ which is already being stretched to capacity by. new residential development. .

Residents have had less luck with the Summit County Metro Parks. It tunis out that parks commissioner David Brennan is also a trustee of OSU. a possible conflict uf.interest. Brennan is a developer who is well know for his attempts ·to get a regional jetport built in Northeast Ohio. .

For information. call the Bath Open Spaces hotline at 643-9328.

Hagan re-elected NOACA president . Cuyahoga County CommissiQner Timothy Hagan has been eJected to_ a second ·term. as president of the governing board of ~he Northeast Ohio Areawide ~oordinating Agency (NOACA). Thus he will continue to have gre~t influence on how the five-county plaf!ning agency addresses transportation and other regional issues. .

Other NOACA board officers for 1995 include: • Vice president: Lorain C~JUnty COlllmission.er Betty Blair. • Assistant vice president: Cleveland Councilman Charles Patton. •. Secretary~ Willoughby :tvrayor David Anders~n. • T~easurer·: Geauga County _Commi.ssioner Neil Hofstetter.

Bicycle news.

• Lakefront bikeway: Cleveland's long-delayed Lakefront

. Bikeway is finally moving. The Ohio Department ofN-atural Resources has committ~d $500,000 for engineering, planning and construction d~awings. The city's Division of Research, Planning & Development exp~cts to hire. a design firm by the middle of this year. The bikeway willliilk · Edgewater Park and Euclid Beach Park.

• Plugging bikes into the equation: Does your citY engineer take bicycles into account when designing road improvements? He or she should if the project gets · feder.al funding. ·Bicycle-friendly features like extra-wide shouldl:;rs . should be included, unless it can be pro yen that they are not needed. If

12

your local roads aren't getting the right treatment, it's time· to start . bugging "your city officials.

• TASSLE returns: Northern Ohio's popular autumn bicycie . event, Tour Along the ~outh Shore of Lake Erie (TASSLE), will be ·back .this year after a. two-year . hiatus. A new sponsoring organization, the l..;orain Lions Club, will provide volunteers to organize the tour. The club is

. wo~king with long-time TASSLE co-di(ectors James Guilford and Jerry Storer. To receive an entry form when they become available, send a self-addressed, st?mped, . business size envelope to TASSLE, P.O. Box 298, Lorain, OH 44052 . .

• Bicycle ho.tline: For weekly ~pdates on Clevelan~ area bicycle events, call the bicycle hotlirie at . 888-7935. The service js spo~sored by the Lake Erie Wheelers with help from the Cleveland Touring

. Club. .

-_... "

Pressure pOints . • Trans~t ax"?: R1'A officials are wortied·thatGongressioual

budget cutters will .be h1!rd on mass transit and jeopardize plans to improve·service in Cleveland's Dual Hub corridor. RTAand the city liave spent y~ars imd millions q( dollarsstiJdying the feasibility,ofarai1line between downtown ~nd University Circle. A local decision on, whether to proceed with some.form .of the bual Hub project is expected in the next several months. Meanwhilet federal funding: to study where to locate an intermodal hub in Cleveland (a transportation hub to connect existing bus, rapid qansit and intercity tail services as.well as future cOTI;lmuter rail -3:nd high~speed J~il seryices) is also in jeopardy.

• Medina outlet roaU: Reside~ts of runii Harrisville Twp, in southern Medina County are protesting plans for [20,store .' o.utlet mall near the intersection ofl"71 and .SR, 83. If township officials ,approve ~he deveh?pers' rezoning request. 'residents,say they. will circulate petitionS and force the issue to be placed on the ballot in November. A regional outlet mall could dramatically transfonn the sparsely popUlated area . .

• Wetland. nukes: High~level radioactive waste keeps piUng up on the shore of Lake Erie. the driQ_king water source for millions Qfpeople. The Nuclear Regulatory Commis~ion recently gave permission for Toledo Edis~n. (a qi,vision;of Genterior Energy) to stof.e spent reactor fue! jn concrete.c3:sks outside the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant. Since the plant beg.n operating in 1977, spent fUel has been stored in holding

. pools inSide, but now those poolS ate full. Davis-Besse is built on a lakesh.()rewetland between Toledo and Sandusky. ' ., • Ainl;mhlnce-chasi~g: 10 order toJchase their patients, local

ho-spitals keep b9ilding new facilities farther out into the sprawling suburbs-another example of costly duplication of infrastructure: Two recent ef{amples arethe_plans o(Meridia Health System and Univ.ersity H05pitaisHealth Systern to bund separate medical office b.uildings on SR 91 in Twinsbtug . .

• EucH~ trees: Euclid residents are having fits over the city's . -plans t'? cut down scores of mature trees on E.' 208th, E. 214th ' and E. 21'7th streets to make way for sewer ,repairs. Residents say the city is ignoring their pleasto do the work· differently and spare the trees. Ironically, Euclid is replacing leaky, old sewers 'only because it has been orde~ed to do so by the EPA. As more older commiuiiiies in the region are forced to replace aging infrastructure, itwill be i.mportant to figure out ways to make the improvements without damaging trees and other neighborhood assets.

• No PUDs for Willough.by: Cr.e~tive developments that would preserve open space and sensitive natural areas wonlt be allowed in WilJou~hby. The suburb's new master plan had

-included provisioJ.1s for planned unit developments (PUDs) and cluster zoning. but backward residents got them deleted by·City Council. Now instead of having the flexibilitY to work with the land, city official.s wilLhave to keep on requiring ~ookie-cutter lots. Flexible zoning options are often <viewed with suspicion; yet a recent poll for the homebuilding industry says-that h.omebuyers are_.seeking planned communities with wooded areas and trails. .

• .Empty big boxes: New big box stores (Wal-Marts, Super Kmarts, Targets, Meijers) are chewing up real. estate al1 over the region, but there are sigris that their market is aIr-eady saturated. Twin Valu superstores in Euclid and. Cuyahoga Falls recently announced that they. are c~osing.

EcoCil)' ClEVElANd 0 January 1995

ECOCITY DIGEST

Gund grants for' the environment Th~ George Gund Foundation of c;leveland recently announced a number of grants to support environmental and urbari initiatives in the region,. inchjdi~g:

'-Scenic America-Technical assistance for developing the Ohio scenic byways system and scenic development ofth~ Ohio & Erie Canal.Corridor, $45,000.

. ,.The Qhio~to·Erie Trail Fund-Operating support for a 320-mile trail linking Lake Erie and the Ohio River, $15,000.

-Sierra Club Fourrdation-Clean Steel program to reduce toxic emissions in the Great Lakes and support a Cleveland-area Sierra Club Clean Steel office, $45,000.

-Rivers UnUmited-Start~up support for a statewide river conservation council, $80,000 over h~O years.

-Union ofConcemed Scientists-Development ofa wind power pilot project in NOl1heast Ohio, $40,000.

-Cleveland State University Foundation-Stal1-up of the Center for Environmental Science, Technology and Policy, $110,000 over two years.

-Great Lakes United-Habitat and biodiversity task force to respond to the "takings" issue in the Great Lakes region, $35,000.

-National Trust for Historic Preservation­Continuing support for the American Resources Infonnation J:Jetwork to coordinate and inform response to the "wise useot movement, $lOO,OOO.

·-Greater Cleyelan'd Roundtable-Minori~ . Economic Opportunity Center, $150,000 over two years. <

- Westsjde Industrial Retention and Expansion Network-Nbighborhood Preservation Initiative, $45,126.

-Cleveland Neighborhood Development Corporation-Neighborhood policy development,

, training and planning assistance programs, $40,000. -Cleveland Restoration Society-General support,

.Neighborbood'Historic Preservation and Sacred Landmarks Assistance programs, $] 00,000 over two years.

-Cleveland Development Foundatipn­Comprehensive Clevehmd master signage program, $93,133. .

- St. Clair-Superior Coalition-'-BlackBox Gall.ery and community.11 workshops, $25,000.

-The New Organization for the Visual Arts-Arts and Activism project, $14,750.

-Committee for Public Art---G~ide to Public Art in Downtown Cleveland, $6,25Q.

-Cuyahoga County Planning Commission­Brownfields Redevelopment Project seminar, $4,25Q.

• Citizens League Research Institute-Regional Public EconOmy and Public Services project, $138,000 over two years.

EcoCi'Y ClEVElANd 0 J anuary 1995

Ohio's new spine Ohio could soon have a new recreational greenway. the Ohio-to-Eri~ Trail, running 320 miles from the lakefront in

Cleveland to the Ohio River in Cincinnati. It would cut diagonally

.. through the state, passing through Columbus, and would serve as the spine for the state1s emerging trail system. It also would complement the Buckeye Trail, which circles the state.

About two-thirds of the proposed trail is now iri pubJic hands, such as the 2~. ·

mile Towpath Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area. The Ohio-to-Erie Trail Fund is working with local organizations to secure the rest,

. including critical links through Columbus and Cleveland.

. For details, call the Trail Fund at (614) ' 538-0607, Ohio Rails'-to-Trails

.Conservancy at (614) 224-8707 or Ohio Canal Corridor at 348-1825.

Loving the Towpath ·Do people want recreatiQnal trails? Ir you have any doubts, just check out the crowds packing the Towpath Trail on a summer weekend. The 20·mile trail through the Cuyah(Jga. Valley National Recreation Area attracted 1.6 million users in 1994. It's not often that a small public investment creates so much public enjoyment.

The trail is getting so much use that the park ~as had to recruit volunteers to help patrol it. These IlTrail Blazerslt will be trained in first aid, vj~itor contacts, interpretation and law enforcement. They will patrol in pairs during peak hour~.

Protecting Ohio's rivers With its 40,000 to 60,000 miles of rivers and· tribu~ies. Ohio is one o.f the most "river rich" states in the nation. These rivers concentrate biological diversity and support a wide range of human uses.

But Ohiols rivers enjoy limited protection. Only a handful are designated . as wild or scenic, and recently the Ohio General Assembly lowered pollution standards on most streams.

Although many streams have "frien.ds" organizations to advocate river restoration and protection, there has been no co.ordinated voice at the state ievel to develop policy. build statewide coalitions and provide assistance to the grassroots gr:oups. To meet this need. the Cincinnati­based organization, Rivers Unlimited, is now adding staff and b~coming a statewide presence. For details, call (5 I 3) 351-4417.

CSU enviro .center Local universities-including Case Western Reserve, Baldwin Wallace and John Carroll- have strengthened environme~tal education programs in the ' p~t few years. One of the mQst ambitiou~ programs is beginning at Cleveland State.

Under 'the' leadership of ProvOst Harold Allen, CSU has begun the Center for Environmental Science. Technology and Policy. The interdisciplinary center aims to identify i~tlOrtant environmental issues in the region, identifY strengths of the local business community related to environmental issues, and promote research, teaching and community . outreach. It will have a special focus on Lake Erie and could help to raise the profile of Great Lakes research in Northeast Ohio. Start-up funding was provided by the Cleveland Foundation and the George Gund Foundation.

CSU also has· begun offering masters and-bachelors degree programs il1 environmenta] fields at its Levin College of Urban Affairs:

Sustainable energy Efforts to· promote renewable energy sources in the region got a boost recently, as SEED Ohio (Sustainable Energy for Economic Development), a local project sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists, [eceived funding from The George Gund Foundation.

The project will study .the potential for wind turbines along the Lake Erie shore, as well as the feasibility of converting old coal-fired power plants to biomass. The project's Susta:inable Energy task Force plans to educate small businesses about . the economic: savings from energy efficiyncy. Participants will encourage municipally-owned utilities in the region to help customers conserve energy. And the group is also working with Lake Metroparks.Farm Park to develop a sustainable energy education center.

For information on getting involved, call Lisa Hong at 791-9520 or Anne Chaka at 468-3077.

CartoPhiles meet

@ A new map inter~st group has formed in the area. Its monthly

. meetings are open to the public and cover all sorts. of

cartographic issues, including computer mapping technologies such as geographic information systems. For more information, call Maureen Far:rell at the Cleveland Public Library Map Collection, 623-2880, or Bill Barrow at 585-9716.

13

..

=

1 r l

GLEANINGS

Environmental award winners

• Clevehind Metroparks won the 1994 National Gold Medal Award sponsored by the National Recreation and Park Association. The award is presented annually to the rnost outstanding community in the United States for excellence in park and recreation administration. The Metroparks was praised for " ... aggressive development and use of non-tax fimds to expand services, development of a strategic master plan, and cooperative emphasis to improve urban recreation opportunities through management of Brookside and Garfield parks."

• Greater Cleveland Ecology Association's yardwaste recycling program has been named an Environmental Success Story by Renew America, a Washington­based organization that promotes environmen~al sustainability nati.onwide. JOe ecology association's program composts yard waste for 10 municipalities in Cuyahoga County. The yardwaste is made into humus and sold to homeowners. landscapers and garden centers.

• The Friends of the Crooked River video, The Cuyahoga: Portrait of a Crooked River, won the Special Recognition/Selected for Merit award at the North American Association for Environmental Edu,cation Film . and Video Festival held last September in Cancun, Mexico

Shal<er Lakes turnover David Imbrogno, director of th~ Shaker Lakes Regional Nature Center for the past two years, has depa,rted to run a much larger nature preserve in Kentucky. He is the third director to leave the center in less than six years.

Here1s hoping that a new director will reinvorate the center, raise its public profile and do more to protect its Doan Brook watershed. He or she could start by helping to coordinate a watershed-based stonnwater management progam

14

to reduce polluted nmoff and flooding below the Heights in Cleveland.

The nature center grew out of citizen1s successful efforts to save the Shaker Lakes from the proposed Clark Freeway.

More on RTAwishes In our last issue, we ran an "RTA wish list, II which included the suggestion that the transit authority use small buses or vans to offer more frequent service on less traveled routes. Mark Adamcik, a member ofRTA1s Citizen Advisory Committee, called to tell us that fixed operating costs for personnel . make it costly to add more vehicles, even if they are smaller and more fuel efficient. He also asked that people in Northeast Ohio support ODOT/Arntrak planning for rail service between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

A perch isn't always a perch ,Consumers of "lake perch" might want to check what kind of fish they are getting, according to Ohio Sea Grant. Health authQrities reconunend eating Lake Erie white perch no more . than once a month becatise of PCB .contamination. But there is no consumption advisory for yellow perch, which has less body [at [or the accumulation of toxic chemicals.

Actually, white perch aren1t perch at all; they are bass. And they are' not native to Lake Erie.

. They invaded in the 1950s arid have proliferated in recent decades to become the second most abundant fish in the lake afte,r gizzard shad. The market [or perch also has grown, but many retailers don't differentiate between t1l.e two species, although yellow perch are safer to eat (and better tasting, too.) .

Illustration from Ohio Sea Grant

Permits to pollute , Here are some Ohio EPA actions of interest from recent weeks. For complete and up-to-date lists of permit.activities in your county, watch for weekly legal notices in your local newspaper. For more detailed information, call the Ohio EPA Northeast District Office in Twinsburg, 425-9171

• Water pollution

American Steel and Wire, Cuyahoga Heigh.ts, discharge to Cuyahoga River. -

LTV Steel, Cleveland, discharge to Cuyahoga River. Burton Rubber Processing, Burton, discharge to Cuyahoga River. Associated Materials. Cuyahoga Falls, proposed revocation of discharge

permit.

Air pollution Maceo Adhesives, Wickliffe. adhesive and sealant mixer. Aexcel Corp., Mentor. paint disperser. Court Metal-valve FmlshIng, Mentor, chrome platmg machines. Accyspray, Beachwood, paint spray booth. 'Ferro Corp., Cuyahoga Heights, quartz railroad car unloading dust

collector. Lincoln Electric, Euclid, surfabe coating line-. Waco International, Parma,. paint line. Oberlin Light & Power, Oberlin, rebuilding en'gine/generator No.2. Ohio Oil Gathering Corp., Atwater, crude oil loading tenninal. Ferro Brecksville, Brecksville, batching and extruding lines for

manufacture of powder coatings. . PPG Industries. Strongsville, automotive powder coating lines. LubrizoJ, Painesville, 54,000·gal. storage tank for inorganic liquid. Ohio Sealants, Mentor, caulk and adhesive prqduction. Hydro Tube, Oberlin, curing oven for powder coatings.

Hazardous waste Diamond Hard Chrome. Cleveland, closure plan for container _storage area

and waste pile. . Forge Properties. Bedford Heights, closure plan for paint pit. I. Schumann & Co., Oakwood VilIage, closure plan for hazardous waste

disposal areas. . Lubrizol; Wickliffe, draft installation and operating permit. Ross Incineration Services, Grafton, addition of third feetlline to

incinerator.

Solid waste . BFI Lorain County Landfill No.2, Oberlin, methane gas eXtraction

system .

Sewer/water line extensions Sprague Road Subdivision No. 2, Seven Hills. Ridgefield Homes Phase 1 and 2. North Ri.dgeville. Misty Meadows Subdivision No.2. Painesville. Jaycox Road Subdivision No: 2, Avon Lake. Briarthorn Condos Phase 2, Wadsworth. Woods of Williamsburg Subdivision No. 6, Hudson Village. Chardon Lakes Golf Course, Chardon. Lake View Drive, Mentor. . Glencairn Forest, Richfield Twp . Pambi Farm Estates Phase 2, Stow. Pine .Lakes Village Subdivision Phase 5A-B, Strongsville. Portsmouth Colony No. 1·2. Perry Twp. Park Lane Woods Allotment, Stow.

Wetland 14011 permits Gary Meinke, Eas1lake, Clragrin River. Army Corps of Engineers, Cleveland, dredging in Cuyahoga River. Akron Dept. of Public Service, Springfield Lake Outlet. . Norman Strelka, Bay Village, Lake Erie. Thomas Viets, Bay Village, Lake Erie.

EcoCiry ClEVElANd 0 January 1995

BIOREGIONAL CALENDAR

. EI'l,{ironmentalcommunity mobilization .. forum

The Cleveland State University College of Urban Affairs Will 'S[ionsor a forum on ' 'environmental organiZing at the grassroots, January 30 at 2 p.m.,·

in the pively.Room at the college, E. 18th Street and Euclid Avenue. Speakers will include: ' ~ ,

• 'Jim Schwab; aulborof the new book, Deeper Shades of Green: The Rise of Blue, C:911ar and Mjnorj~ty Envtronmentalism in America, which includes chapters o~ the GSX incinerator struggle in Cleveland and the fight against the wn incinerator in E. Liverpool. . '

• Alonzo Spencer, president of Ihe Tri-State Environmental Coalition. '

• M;arge Grevatt, director of Ihe Center for Cooperative Action,

• Sandy Crawford, director of Ihe Center for Environmental Education and Trailling at Cuyahoga Community College.

Call 687-2136 for more informatiOn.

January 31 Conservation options for private . landowners, a class about conservation

. easement techillques, 7 p.m. at Holden Arboretum, 9500 Sperry Rd. in Kirtland. $18 fee for nonmembers. Call '946-4400 or 256'-1110.

February 7 Monthly meeting of Ihe Black River Audubon Society, 7 ;3.0 p.m. at Ihe Lorain County Metro Parks Carlisle Visitor Center "in LaGrange. A representative of the Rails to Trails· Conservancy ~i.ll speak on plans for new trails in Ohio.

February 10 Nature writer's workshop with local poets Jill Sell and Cyril Dostal, 7:30 p.m., sponsored by the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area. Fee $3 . Call 524-2248 for registration information.

February I I The art of tracking animals, a hike in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, 9:30 a.m.,

. . . beginiling at the park headquarters , intersection of Riverview and Vaughn roads.

February 16 Monthly meeting of the Friends of the Black River at 7 p.m. A family night at Ihe Lor~in Metro Parks· Carlisle Visitor Center,

' EcoChy ClEVElANd 0 January 199 5

f~aturing· a ~howing of Dr. Seussl classic tale of environmental degradation, The Larax.

February 18 Town meeting ~o gather public input for Ohio EPA's Compa rative Risk Project, which is seeking to establish environmental priorities for the state, 10 a.m. at the Cleveland Metroparks' Look About Lodge in the South Chagrin Reservation.

February 18 Identifying trees iri. winter, 10 a.m. at the Meyer Cente~ in Big Creek Park, Geauga Park District. call285-2222.

February 19 Winter plant life, a workshop for young naturalists, ages 9-12. Happy Days Visitor Center of the Cuyaboga Valley National Recreation Area on SR 303 at 1 :30 p.m.

February 22 Ohio .Environmental CouncnAnnual Lobby Day, Hyatt on Capitol Square in Columbus. A"good chance to get caugbt up on state environmental issues and talk to legislators. Call (614) 224-4900 for registration infonnation.

February 22 Monthly meeting of Ihe Northeast Ohio Gtoup oflhe Sierra Club, 7:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in University Circle. A discussion of Ihe 1995 politic"al outlook for enyironmentalists will

. include fonner Congressman Eric Fingerhut.

February 24 Winter wildlife of the Western Reserve, . a talk by prominent nature photographer Gary Meszaro's, 7:30 p.m. at the Meyer Center in Big Creek Park, Geauga Park

. District.

T~:~;:~~~::~ Prj,,",erv.tir'n and author or How SpmwlHann.s Communities and What CI"/i:;;ens Can Do A1;>out It, will speak at 8 p.mi Febfriarjl 2T~t Wiley Middle School Auditorium,.218I MirhnarBlvd.in University Heigbts. In recent years, lbe Trust for Historic Preservation has become a prominentop,!'onent oU.mpant supelStor. development'-cthe'growth of stores like Wal­Mart which desb"o~s traditional Main. Streets and rural character.

Begminont's:appearancein Northeas~, Ohio is sponsored by Stop lbe Mart (lhecitiZens group fighting Iheproposed sale of OakwOod Country Club'in Clevelaiid HeightS and >

South EUcliq to sllperstore developers), Ihe Cleveland Restoration Society, the Northeast Ohio Gtoup of the Sierra Club, and EeoCity Cleveland.

February 28 Join a park ranger for a hike. along the route. of the planned extension of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail north ofR~ckside Road. Meet at the Lock 39 Trailhead oflhe Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area at 9":30 a.m.

March 2 Public meeting on Ihe Cleveland'Dual Hub transit project. Tentatively scheduled--:­watch daily papers for details .

Northeast Ohio Greens The Greens are meeting weekly to work ori low-level nuclear. waste, campaign fmance. reform and olher issues. Can 63) -0557 for details . .

Priorities Project prepares to prioritize The Northeast Ohio Regional Environmental Priorities' Project is wrapping up the flrst phase ~f its work and has scheduled meetings at which participants will attempt to rank the most serious environmental issues facing the region.

• During the last week of Februruy, the project's three technical advisory committees will meet to recommend the most important issue~ in their fields. The Ecology and Quality ofLife"cornmiUees will meet. at 3-8 p.m. on February 23. The Human Health committee will meet at 8 a.m. to tp.m. February 24·. .

-.On March 16 from 1 to 5 p.m. the teclmical advisory committees will present their fmdings to the Public Committee, a 36-member body composed of repc:esentatives from around the region.

• On March 20, the Public Committee will have a day-long meeting to decide the fmal rankings.

The project is organized by the Center for the Environment at CWRU. For more information about observing any of the upcoming meetings, call 368-2988 ..

1 5

(

\

~ . , , I

•

,.

MAP OF THE MONTH

Growth of urbanized areas in Northeast Ohio

• 1950 Urbanized Area ..

• Projettcd CrhaJlized Areafor the Year 2010

OUf sprawling region: :rhe map shows the projected growth of urbanized areas between 1950 ·and 2010 in the eight-county region (Cuyahoga,- Lorain. Medina, Sl,lmmit, Stark, Portage, Geauga and Lake counties). An "urb~ized are:a" comprises 'one or more central places and the adjacent densely settled surrounding territory that together have a minimum of 50,000 people. Not included are surrounding suburban areas with low-density

. housing, even though such areas look and feel developed ..

Prepared for tJieAkron Regionallnfrastructure Alliance, Build Up'Greater Cleveland, and the Stark County lnfrastructure Committee by the Cent.er for Urban Studies, University of Akron .·

J..o . . r - - ":'" .- - - - - - - - ~ - ~

I Subscribe n.ow! . I I

Each month, EcoCity Cleveland will bring you the Ideas and information you. need to create a more sustainable bioregion. .

I . . I 'Nome ~_~~~~~_~~~~_~ ____ _

I Address -----------------

I City ______ '--_ State __ Zip ___ _

, Telephone ___ --------.,-------

I Bioregion (be creative) __________ -----,-

1:1 New or 0 renewal regular one-year subscription--$20. I 0 Supporting 5ub~ription·-$35 or more, " I' {Tox-deductible'contributions will 'help us reach more people.1

I CJ limited i~come·-$15 (or whatever you can offord), CJ Send me _ _ hee copies of EcoCity Cleveland to

I shore with hiend.!.

I I

Please make che~ks payoble to EcoCity Cleveland and mail , to 2841 Scarborough. Rood, Clevelond Heights, OH 44118

• EI!Il "! !'"_~. ",.-'III!! Sqti:fa::tion 9uar?"'te".~, ,' ' .. :,.-.",. L"';;;' _ .... _________ ~. " ;;;';' ..

EcoCity Cleveland 2841 Scarborough Road Cleveland Heights. OH 44118 Cuyahoga 8ioregion 1216)932-3007

FORWMDING AND RETURN _ POSTAGE GUMANTEED ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

DATED MATERIAL - DO NOT DELAY

David Beach [Exp. 12/99J 2841 Scarborough Rd Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

* 1 00% Post-consumer waste ,.~ ..

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.s. POSTAGE

PAID CLEVElAND. OHIO

PERMIT NO. 592

Time to-renew your subscnption? Check the expiration date on your mailing label. .