By Joe Baur
Cleveland is in desperate need of a mayor (or a leader at any level of city government) with a bold plan for the future of transportation in this city.
On one hand we have incumbent Mayor Frank Jackson, who at a recent candidates forum presented by the Cleveland Young Professional Senate said all the right things. Then again, he also recently stood by Governor John Kasich to trumpet $331.3 million in state sold bonds on the Ohio Turnpike for the Opportunity Corridor, an auto-oriented project through Central, Kinsman, and Fairfax to improve commuter access to University Circle. This the same governor who worked to defund both the 3C Corridor rail project and Cincinnati’s streetcar – not exactly the best of company for an urban mayor.
At the forum, Jackson said he envisions a pedestrian and bike-friendly city, not a car-friendly city. He admitted that public transportation “has to catch up,” and rightly applauded RTA for doing what they can with what little they’re given in funding.
“We’re still a city built around cars,” Jackson told the audience of young professionals, Cleveland’s fastest growing demographic. He criticized our car culture that has led to dysfunctional street grids and suburbanites demanding parking downtown.
The mayor concluded that Cleveland must develop infrastructure that will demand better public transportation. The answer, Jackson said, is his plan to develop Public Square primarily for pedestrians and cyclists with Superior Avenue remaining open during weekdays and rush hour to public transportation and “some car traffic.”
Great for Downtown, but it does little to address the transportation needs of nearly every other Cleveland neighborhood, specifically the transit-dependent neighborhoods his Opportunity Corridor is slated to run through.
Opposing him is Ken Lanci, John Boehner’s tanning salon compadre who suggested at the forum turning warehouses around East 40th Street into parking garages, so people can have cheaper parking and take a bus Downtown. There was of course no reasoning given as to why the poverty-stricken eastside of Cleveland, an area already decimated due to white flight fueled by cars, is to suddenly take on the burden of providing the city’s parking needs.
Neither plan from either candidate answers how Cleveland will rid the region of a car culture that has decimated city neighborhoods and may continue to do so with the Opportunity Corridor. Both Jackson and Lanci simply have plans to supplement a car-lite lifestyle that already exists Downtown.
A study released from Policy Matters Ohio on the Opportunity Corridor revealed that “25 percent of Cleveland residents either carpool to work or commute via public transit, walking or biking; 11.5 percent of commuters have no access to a vehicle.” They concluded that given the city’s commitment to equity in the urban core, Cleveland should consider alternatives to the Opportunity Corridor that focus on public transportation, pedestrians and cyclists.
For the sake of comparison, Policy Matters noted cheaper alternatives to the $331.3 million project.
Cincinnati’s streetcar, the same one Governor Kasich tried to derail by rescinding $52 million in appropriated funding, costs $133 million to cover a 3.6-mile loop. The Tea Partier in him must be going insane to support such a bloated, fiscally unsustainable project.
Policy Matters Ohio’s full report, complete with additional alternatives, can be read here. Another interesting alternative posited by GreenCityBlueLake to focus Opportunity Corridor funds on redeveloping Woodland Avenue can be read here.
These are the bold transportation plans we need coming out of City Hall, not wasteful projects like Opportunity Corridor that compromise the progress we’ve made in walkability and public transportation.
Instead, Clevelanders are left choosing between old think and bizarre think this November. In our Mayor’s words, I guess it is what it is.
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 http://JoeBaur.com and on Twitter @BaurJoe.
10 Responses to “Cleveland Needs A Bold Transportation Plan”
Ken Prendergast
Great article, Joe. Perhaps providing more and better transportation alternatives should be the role for a renewal of the sin tax? Metro areas can’t depend on our gridlocked state and federal governments anymore for help. We have to help ourselves.
John Ettorre
Where to begin, Joe? The only thing that can rid a region of a car culture is a majority of its citizens deciding to change their lifestyles. Does any rational person think that’s on the immediate horizon for Northeast Ohio? People who pine for this kind of pie-in-the-sky stuff somehow have to come to terms with the simple fact that we live in a market economy, where people vote with their pocketbooks.
It’s great that you’re a young, single, energetic guy who chooses to live car-less downtown. Great! We need lots more of them. But the reality is that for the vast majority of the population, that lifestyle doesn’t work, at least not until they get to an empty nest stage, if then. To me, those dynamics are fairly immutable, and they will always drive transportation policy in this country.
Having said that, I choose with my pocketbook to always take Amtrak wherever possible rather than a plane, even when I have to leave (as I did last week) on a train at 3 a.m. I choose to use the Rapid to go downtown as often as possible (partly because I’m tired of paying for parking tix). But those are the exceptions rather than the rule for this new empty nester. I’d never dream of giving up my car. Biking and walking and public transit are great, at least during the five months of good weather. But even then, they severely limit my mobility for the places I need to go, for work and pleasure.
The other thing you seem to ignore in this piece is that this is an entire region, an ecosystem, and Cleveland is just a part of it. And like it or not, the political and economic power has slowly shifted to the outlying areas, to the detriment of Cleveland proper. So Cleveland proper can’t dictate anything, including transportation policy. It can only be part of the larger regional conversation.
b
Wish best Joe B…John E basically summed it up well…Believe me it would be NICE,$saving NOT to have to drive all over the place,etc.and be able to just walk downstairs,etc.and have it all there but hey…
b
Me…burbite WITH enough,lot of contacts with Cleveland proper..THAT said. WHAT can one do about powerful interests thou FINALLY WE do run out of tax money,poltico willpower,REASONS for some projects SO SOME hope out there but whether THAT stops a Opportunity Corridor is anyones guess…I HIGHTLY doubt it..IF ANY solace to U Joe or others I HIGHLY doubt much if any spillover value to LOCALS in THAT area OTHER then faster way to get around…other then some fastfood,carwash,gas station deals which ACTUALLY CAN use…SUSPECT EOCorridor gonna be the LAST or semi last project of its kind…FIRST I think DOWNTOWN biz crew took air out of the room,hogged $ of all kinds across the board so LOT less to divvy…thou to be FAIR to THEM a MED MART SGM MMPI CGH convention center DOES make A LOT of sense or least LOT more sellable vs other BIZARRE WGW projects peddled over the decades..TIME will tell on THAT which is what gonna need NOW…
IF want to peruse ANY project…TAP foundation grant money or OTHER to LEVEL worst of slum wrecks so spare ALL a LOT of grief across the board…EVEN in BEST SCENARIOS NOT gonna need said bldg., CANT find user/buyers/renters for said and all that…
LIMITS to the hipchic wannabe Yuppie Hipster lifestyle thing which 88% of population CANT,wont emulate so all THIS is lost on them or us…
b
IF want to put it THIS way…FRANK J and KingKasich are GONNA win re election…REST is a upshot…POLITICO battlefield is up for grabs due to it ALL…..MEANTIME its a anything goes mishmash economic,social,etc.grabbag of any and all…NO idea HOW long,HOW bad,etc. Dimora,Russo,&Co.fallout gonna continue thou THEY sure got it shoved up their tailpipes…TOoo much evidence,etc. AFRAID in a bizarre twisted sense CLEVELAND econ and to lesser extent OTHER cties,etc. NOW semi dependent on gov,medico,ed,prizBiz,legalbegal money to keep going…GO into ANY office bldg…READ the marquee…Yup…LOOK at the SKYLINE…WHO built MOST of the RECENT stuff…heck..check out ANY museum,other entities FOUNDATION founders ‘plaque’….HALF the firms gone,merged,dead,bought out,moved,downsized,went NONprofit,etc.
For what worth..LIMITS to burbthing..RAN its course…A FEW more cornfields out on GRAFTON rd in Brunswick get developed but LONG SLOW process… TELLING sign is when LISTED price on sale sign is like a 1990 or 2003 ‘price’…MAYBE STARTS at $220 K but consider WHAT folks wanted for stuff in Cleveland to CUYAHOGA county burbia…BIG culture shift of all kinds involving marriage to other stuf…CONSIDER WHAT JUST went thru…PUT THIS ANOTHER way far GREAT RECESSION of ’08…NEVER mind the greenmail,coroprate raider,downsizing thing,globablization thing,etc. of like 1979 ON…..HOW many want to muck with repairs,grass,fencing,ISSUES with NEIGHBORS OVER IT ALL,etc.etc. LOT of baggage…to a POINT TRUE anywhere but especially out in decent,FANCY burbia… OR ‘tony revived areas of Cleveland…’SOMETHING to be said for semi slum…NO one gonna give U a hard time if grass is a little higher,etc.or some junk in backyard…. IF ANYTHING REPELS YUPPIES back into OWN fave haunts,etc. BOTH sides get to taunt,tortue EACH other…or patronize…DONT ask…THEY wont admit to it…THAT runs the gamut..let YOUR mind wander…
LISTEN…FEWER hoodies,homies,etc.around…WEnt underground,MOVED,doing FREAKONOMICS,JAILED,”geeking out” somewhere on 8balls,etc.etc. BE thankful…
b
WOODLAND? GOoood luck with THAT…STURDIEST or still OCCUPIED bldgs. get the nod and continue…REST? good luck…MAYBE SOME BLACK or GBLTBG types re occupy said… meth labs to arsonists take care of everything else… WE are or WERE a big city BUT BUT a PLACE NEEDS purpose or HAVE SOME draw… WHAT is the VISION here…SHUTTLING Yuppies,etc.or renegade artists or whatever to newest haunts for awhile? SUSPECT fling what left of poor slobs from encroaching Yups to OUTER hinterlands…I REALLY have to QUESTION HOW viable YUP thing is CONSIDERING THE FAST moving SILICON VALLEY dominated techie THOU IS SOME hope… SEE SOME bright ideas like that new gift card REDDEMER kiosk machine called LuLa or LuLoop or something LIKE THAT>..CLEVER BEYOND belief…NO I don’t work for THEM BUT THAT is the kind of home run ideas need… and GET RID of pesky low balance cards of weak sister outfits while STILL can…..law or no law…I NEED a legal begal CHAP 11,7 or 13 notice of plaintiff notice like a hole in the ….SORRY to go off on tangent BUT….
WANT honest truth…even WITH obamacare to rest of it I THINK a expanding UNIV.CIRCLE,etc. still gonna be ultimate determiner of THAT area over THERE….
b
Eastside parking garage thing… GOoood luck with THAT… SOME bizarre roundabout way or gift to DOWNTOWN biz crew HOPING to free up space downtown for whatever…HALF of LURE of a Warehouse Dist IS fairly easy access…MINUS game days… WHO the blank is gonna park THEIR car WERE to GET onto WHAT to go WHERE to DO what or WATCH WHCICH TEAM lose… MAYBE I am getting into generational battle issues here and SOUND like a ARCHIE BUNKER BUT… X people of X age VIEW downtown,or MOST of Cleveland AS NO go,etc. and ONLY go down for courthouse duty,etc. CITY GOV ITSELF PLANNED as much and said blank it and WENT with likes of MED MART to rest of it and just said CUT the losses,FEE/FINE illelgal parkers,etc.and hold onto whatever GOT downtown in existing bldgs. so the concete DOESNT go up BELLY WHITE DEAD and LAND on COUNTY, CITYs dime… which all SOUNDS OXYMORONIC weird,etc. MEANTIME good ol DCA chasing whatever around or OUT of THIER turf….
b
CPD….JUST had the FUN little CHASE…QUITE a tv NEWS,webcam sight… IN A SENSE cant blame em…BUT THAT just ‘feeds’ in this perpetual bad loop…NOT a winner…ALL THAT ‘BAD BAGGAGE”….. IF REALLY want insight…STEELYARD COMMONS…if THAT wasn’t a tax $,SOME jobs grabber DONT know WHAT is…DOES help immediate hoods…IS RTA down there…IS a win FOR ALL…take victories WERE can…
b
3 C COrridor….COASTAL project..EAST or WEST coast..THEY can pull it off..HAVE a need..US here?! Nooo…What?! SHUTTLE some lawyers,lobbyists down there..Ok SURE good ol OSU fans..EVEN then… FOLKS WOULD scream BLOODY murder about HIGH TAX,UNIONIZED,HIGH PENSION cost AMTRACK lite affair with ALL THAT conjures up…AND THAT sure HELPED DO in EX OHIO GOV. STRICKLAND (OK it was the economy dummy as the infamous saying goes…). COLUMBUS same way…ONCE get there NEED a car,taxi,shuttle,etc. ACTUALLY in a TELEX, FAX,WEB,VC world SHOULD be LESS need to get in a car MUCH less a train…DONT see it…
PEOPLES eyes would ROLL,etc.
I want to some near KIDDYland LITE rail gig ALONG north marginal parralling museums,Lakefront,Browns stadium OK that is ONE thing thou gosh knows HOW interests react to THAT…ALWAYS thought could have had a mini amusement park THERE thou with insurance costs,GANGS,etc. NOT sure if doable thou suspect MORE support for something like THAT…
PUT this ANOTHER way…I look,dress like a avg.blue collar pseudo slob in a 9 yr old car…AND STILL get panhandled…AND AMAZING WHERE…certain stations off of w.150&71, Clark&14th,etc. GUESS NO Fear! as they say… CHEAP compared to clown TRYING to kick in door or other such BS…Heres 5o cents…THEN the real fireworks begin and before know it IT ALL GOES DOWN…NO thank U….THEY can hit up LANCI when He pulls up in His Bentley……OTHER reporters APPARENTLY feel same way bout Him bout Hey let it go…. I THINK LANCI trying to semi ape a ’92 Ross Perot during THAT politico season…SAME type of ideas,approach,etc.
b
REST of hoods…HALF the hillbillies FLED,JAILED,working out in burbia,military,dead,etc. NEAR same thing for rest…GRANNIES semi toughing it out,watching soap operas or going to bingo/free bread days down at churches…Kiddies off to school or juvie… if want some ideas,facts,etc.check out CRAINS…big write-ups on vo ed to other stuff…let u decide…IF any solace UNLESS a total whackjob,slob,freeloaders,etc. IT finally gets old and more or less straighten out…THE more burndowns,rehab,rapes,jailings,etc.have BETER off one is…..IN a bizarre way HOMIES sorta clean thing up n out…