Cleveland's History, A Green Future

By Andrew Adrian-Karlin

Contributing Writer

Cleveland dwells on its history. Go anywhere that people are discussing Cleveland’s future and you will hear conversations about what the city once was. The consensus is that Cleveland was once a blue-collar, union metropolis, and a capital of American industrial production. This matters.

Cleveland’s industry built a city with a strong foundation of beautiful historic buildings, buildings that can help serve as the bedrock to build the “green-collar” jobs that are the future of our nation’s economy. While they are beautiful, and cheap to use (Commercial space for rent in Cleveland costs around $18.02 per square foot, in Chicago $36.53, in Pittsburgh $22.54) what also matters is that using historic buildings is green. In manpower, materials and energy the cost in tons of carbon to build a new office is significantly higher than the cost to refurbish an older building or use a modern one. If a business is looking to be carbon neutral they can cheaply put themselves in the heart of Cleveland with little environmental impact. 

Not only that, but Cleveland has an abundance of public transportation that other cities with the same cost of living don’t. The new health line running from East Cleveland through University Circle, the Cleveland Clinic and CSU is great for commuting and the RTA was voted the best public transportation in North America by the American Public Transportation Association in 2007. The future of our nation is green and Cleveland is poised to deliver on that future.

President Obama, in a speech at Carnegie Mellon University, on the economy, asked if anyone could have expected Pittsburgh to fare better than other rust belt cities and “reemerge as a center for technology and green jobs, health care, and education.” Cleveland has the ability to do the same and is well suited for it. We are already home to some of the nation’s best hospitals, great universities and have some of the nation’s best technology infrastructure. If we already have these and the historical infrastructure that should be attractive to green businesses, then I would like to explore what we can do to position Cleveland as a leader in green jobs.