Learn About the Vacancy Crisis from the Man Who Warned Us

Wed 10/18 @ 7PM

Few people know more about the foreclosure crisis than former Cuyahoga County treasurer Jim Rokakis. He spotted it coming years before it hit and travelled the country sounding the warning.

Alas, he wasn’t able to head it off — the causes were too big and intractable. But as vice president and director of Thriving Communities of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, he continues to work to ameliorate its effects.

The Cleveland Life Institute is hosting Rokakis at the First Baptist Church of Great Cleveland’s Spahr Center where he’ll talk about abandoned housing in Cleveland, how it impacts different parts of the region and what solutions exist. He points out that this isn’t just an inner-city problem, affecting neighborhoods like Slavic Village and Glenville.

“You might think you’re safe because you live in a suburb like Strongsville, or Chagrin or Brecksville or Bay Village, but the reality is, it’s the loss of value in the city and the inner ring suburbs that has driven property taxes up for people all over the county,” says Rokakis. “It’s destabilizing these neighborhoods and that destabilization tends to migrate outwards.”

The program is free and open to all.

clelife.org

Cleveland, OH 44118

 

 

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