Downtown Cleveland Needs A School

By Joe Baur

If you build it, they will come.

In Downtown Cleveland’s case, “it” is a K-12 school and “they” are young families who shudder at the idea of a car-trapped, suburban life marked in excitement by trips to Applebees.

Downtown is on the rise. It’s been said and reported by countless advocates and national publications. To what extent – dramatic or marginal – depends on whom you’re talking to. The Downtown Cleveland Alliances and Positively Clevelands of the world take projects like the casino and Med Mart as concrete signs of renewal in our urban core. Others look at aspects of livability that make a great neighborhood – transit access, walkability, retail, education. The latter is a badly missing ingredient to building a long-term, self-sustaining neighborhood.

Downtown Cleveland is on a dangerous, self-contradictory path. The city supports initiatives that enhance downtown as a neighborhood on one day, and others that stand to harm its vitality the next.

For instance, the Mayor’s plan to close Ontario and Superior surrounding Public Square are widely supported among downtown residents and the young professional crowd the city hopes to continue attracting. Other projects like the demolition of the historic Columbia Building for yet another parking garage and planned casino skywalk harm the area’s potential of becoming a vibrant neighborhood where Clevelanders can raise a family.

Many scoff at the idea of raising a family downtown, and with good reason based on the city’s Jekyll and Hyde approach to developing downtown as a neighborhood. Chief among reasons for scoffing is the dismal state of our public school system. It’s also why many young professionals living downtown feel they’ll inevitably have to succumb to the allure of a suburban education.

But Clevelanders responded to that very criticism by passing Issue 107 to provide the Cleveland Metropolitan School District a levy. It was a loud statement from Cleveland voters that not only do we want a better school system for our children, but also an opportunity to stay in the city and continue reversing the harmful ramifications of suburban sprawl.

If city leaders are smart, they’ll work night and day to bring a school to serve downtown families as soon as possible.

Currently, an estimated 150 children live downtown out of approximately 10,000 residents. Local initiatives, such as a new preschool with a capacity of 55, are great first steps in encouraging downtown family living. But we need more. We need more to convince today’s young professionals to stick around when starting a family, so we can build to 20,000 downtown residents as opposed to treating apartment units as a revolving door for the next class of young professionals.

We’ve been told time and time again that we’re on the cusp of fundamentally transforming our city. We’ve been told this under the guise of tax-funded stadium projects and, most recently, the casino and Med Mart. But stadiums, casinos and med marts are not the cornerstones of a vibrant neighborhood. They’re amenities for the greater regional area, not the residents who live within walking distance.

Truth is Cleveland hasn’t been this close to truly transforming the heart of our city since Mayor Tom L. Johnson held the reigns of City Hall at the beginning of the 20th Century. He had tremendous foresight, investing in streetcars and expanding the parks system. His laudable actions gave him the honorable label of “The best Mayor of the best-governed city in the United States.” The distinction is inscribed on his statue that sits on Public Square.

If downtown residents are to believe in the hype of Cleveland’s latest comeback, trumpeted to us by our friends at the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and every Clevelander with a Twitter or Facebook account, then our leaders need to show foresight and give downtown residents something to believe in. Families don’t stay in a neighborhood or relocate to be closer to a casino or Med Mart. They commit to a neighborhood because of its character, its energy, its amenities that support raising a family.

The Euclid Corridor, separated bike lane on Lorain-Carnegie, and proposed Public Square unification are projects that support a family. But without a school, those projects become irrelevant for a family; because they’ll be too busy packing for Rocky River.

Build a school downtown and young professionals will build a family. Together, we’ll build a neighborhood.

[Photo: Global Cleveland]

 

 

Joe Baur is a freelance writer, filmmaker and satirist with a diverse array of interests including travel, adventure, craft beer, health, urban issues, culture and politics. He ranks his allegiances in the order of Cleveland, the state of Ohio and the Rust Belt, and enjoys a fried egg on a variety of meats. Joe has a B.A. in Mass Communication with a focus on production from Miami University. Follow him at joebaur.com and on Twitter @MildlyRelevant.

 

 

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