A New Path for Revitilization

Yesterday voters elected Ed Fitzgerald, Mayor of Lakewood, as the new County Executive for Cuyahoga County. Under the backdrop of the worst corruption scandal in county history, Fitzgerald was able to overcome his Republican challenger, Matt Dolan, who spent millions of dollars linking Fitzgerald to the current scandal facing the local Democratic party. As the first County Executive, Fitzgerald will be faced with a laundry list of challenges. While restoring faith and credibility in county government should be his main priority. Fitzgerald has a unique opportunity to re-imagine Cleveland's role as the economic nucleus of Northeast Ohio.

Earlier last month, urban development experts from across the country gathered in Cleveland to discuss how to use vacant properties as an economic asset. Many cities across the country have had no choice but to make this issue a priority, as towering mortgage debt and urban disinvestment continues to plague many inner-city communities. In 2009, Cleveland alone witnessed more than 20,000 foreclosures, according to cases filed in the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. This coupled with rising population loss and increasing levels of poverty, has undermined real GDP growth in the region. Yet while these structural challenges seem impossible to address, there is hope as some communities in the city are beginning to turn the page. Urban wine gardens are being created in the Hough Neighborhood, and University Circle is only at the cusp of witnessing how the new transit line will help link its assets to Downtown Cleveland. "Instead of figuring out what to do with (all) the vacant land, we need to figure out for each neighborhood, 'What are your most pressing problems, and in what way can vacant land be part of an answer?" says, Terry Schwarz, director of Kent State University's Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. And it may take this neighborhood approach to really help make Cleveland, and thus Cuyahoga County, more economically competitive. 

Nonetheless, as Fitzgerald begins his transition as the region's newly elected leader, he must do all the he can to listen to leaders in Cleveland to develop a sophisticated economic agenda that places the city at the center. In this age of austerity, rethinking how we utilize our must underused properties will be integral to that economic agenda. Cleveland can't afford to wait for another historic election to solve its problems. If Fitzgerald does his due diligence, he can help lead the both the county and the city to a new age of prosperity.