Fri 7/30 @ noon
Cleveland’s waterfront access — or lack thereof — has long been a bone of contention. While Edgewater Park provides a beach for westsiders and has been dramatically upgraded in the last several years, the Shoreway severed east-side neighborhoods from the lake, where beaches are long gone. And there’s virtually no lakefront access downtown where development such as a football stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Family, the Coast Guard Station and Burke Lakefront Airport form a barricade. In fact, 90% of Cuyahoga County’s lakefront is inaccessible to the public.
One only needs to make a short jaunt to Chicago to see what could have been. There, regulation has protected many miles of lakefront with beaches, marinas and walking/biking/running trails (the ugly McCormick Place convention center being one of the few errors). And while the wealthy north side got more initial attention, the new trails and natural plant restoration on the south side have rapidly made the south lakefront a popular and beautiful recreational area as well.
The City Club will be addressing issues of lakefront access at a forum called “On The Waterfront: Connecting Neighborhoods to the Shore.”
They admit there’s a lot to be done.
“Both social and physical barriers have prevented residents, especially in low-income communities, from interacting with our region’s greatest asset—the water,” they say. “How can lakefront cities leverage development and land use policy to make waterfront access more for equitable for all?”
The panelists will include leaders of three cities that have been doing work to improve lakefront access: Sandusky city manager Eric Wobser, Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail, and Cleveland City Planning Director Freddy Collier.
“Euclid recently completed the first part of the city’s lakefront trail as part of its Waterfront Improvement Plan,” they explain. “Sandusky invested millions into the Jackson Street Pier and new bikeway. Cleveland transformed Edgewater Park, constructed the Whiskey Island Bridge, and plans to activate the riverfront at Irishtown Bend.” Yes, once again, money is pouring into gentrifying areas on the west side, while the old black fishermen who line the lakewalls on the east side have limited ways to reach the shore.
The City Club is partnering with theLincoln Institute of Land Policy for this forum, part of a series of discussions about what part land policy plays in addressing pressing social, economic, and environmental issues.
The forum, which is live at the City Club, will be moderated by Ideastream’s Rick Jackson. It’s sold out but you can listen to it live on the City Club’s Facebook page. Questions can be tweeted to @TheCityClub or texted to 330.541.5794.
cityclub.org/on-the-waterfront-connecting-neighborhoods-to-the-shore