East Cleveland population decline and urban decay? (Lorain, Elyria: townhomes, neighborhoods)

[drro]

I was watching Detroit video’s on youtube when youtube presented the video below about East Cleveland to me. It looks like the bad parts of Detroit. I tried to find information about how things got so bad in East Cleveland but could not find much other than the usual reasons like de-industrialization and loss of jobs, white-flight and population loss in general, and sub-urbanization. Other rust-belt cities that suffered the same problems look much better than East-Cleveland, including Cleveland itself.

So, my question is how did East Cleveland end up so bad? One positive thing about East Cleveland I could find is that it is really green like this picture shows.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5ocR0-5nJD0

[216facts]

East Cleveland started out as mainly white ethnic/middle/upper crust residential and industrial R&D back in the early part of the 1900s. EC quickly fell prey to white flight due to the cramped quarters of its housing stock, its lower physical location below the bluffs, and the proximity of heavy industry. So EC was one of the first places to start eroding its upper class, then middle class. It never recovered, but took a nasty nosedive starting in the 70s due to the de-industrialization of this area, Asian competition to products, etc. It is during this time that the proud middle class, mainly black, started to bolt to the Heights and beyond.
As is typical, if a city cannot stop the bleeding of its upper/middle/educated class, it suffers from having fewer qualified candidates for its governance. EC has suffered here also with extremely poor city management and corruption.

Today, EC is a barely a shadow of its past.

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by 216facts

EC has suffered here also with extremely poor city management and corruption.

^Dead-on post, where I believe this last sentence says it all... It seems like mayoral terms don't last in EC given that incumbents are either recalled or thrown in jail. Gary Norton, armed with a CSU urban planning degree plus experience in Cleveland govt, was the best-equipped mayor EC had in decades -- he served in the 2010s. He was one of the few EC pols who actually had a vision as well as the good sense to favor EC annexation by mothership Cleveland. Norton oversaw the construction of the promising Circle-East townhomes and moved to a cooperative relationship with booming Cleveland neighbor UCI... But likely because of this, and seemingly because of his competence and clean/non-corrupt background, he was foolishly recalled per the movement of EC's backward city council, and the city has rapidly deteriorated since. EC is an urban tragedy. Police and fire are nearly nonexistent, with EC Cops taking a recent public hit with the national release of videos of thug cops beating/abusing citizens... but the sheer explosive growth of neighboring Univ. Circle and adjacent lower Glenville may finally help shake things up positively in EC ... we hope.

[drro]

Thanks for the replies. It seems indeed poor city management and corruption, in addition to the regular rust-belt problems like de-industrialization, loss of jobs and population, and sub-urbanization, can push a city truly over the edge into a post-apocalyptic state.

Are there any plans to revitalize East Cleveland? It seems there is enough demand for housing in general to revitalize the less desirable cities like East Cleveland. Its location near Cleveland seems pretty good at least.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by drro

Thanks for the replies. It seems indeed poor city management and corruption, in addition to the regular rust-belt problems like de-industrialization, loss of jobs and population, and sub-urbanization, can push a city truly over the edge into a post-apocalyptic state.

Are there any plans to revitalize East Cleveland? It seems there is enough demand for housing in general to revitalize the less desirable cities like East Cleveland. Its location near Cleveland seems pretty good at least.

you really can't make a "plan" to "revitalize" a place like East Cleveland. It's completely gutted. So much of the housing has just been sitting around rotting for 30 years and beyond any hope of anyone willing to try to rehab, if it's even possible. The best thing EC could hope for is a couple big companies buying up tons of land, razing it completely, and building some massive new headquarters or plant or something.

[dr_j_planning]

Originally Posted by drro

Thanks for the replies. It seems indeed poor city management and corruption, in addition to the regular rust-belt problems like de-industrialization, loss of jobs and population, and sub-urbanization, can push a city truly over the edge into a post-apocalyptic state.

Are there any plans to revitalize East Cleveland? It seems there is enough demand for housing in general to revitalize the less desirable cities like East Cleveland. Its location near Cleveland seems pretty good at least.

The population of the Cleveland-Elyria Metropolitan Statistical Area (Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina Counties) has declined from its peak of 2,320,572 in 1970 to a population of only 2,088,251 in 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau. This is a decline of over 232,000 people or -10%. The continued construction of new housing in the metro area since 1970, despite a declining population, resulted in a housing surplus and the oldest, least well-built and least desirable housing units eventually fell into abandonment. The upshot is wide swaths of vacant land and empty housing across many neighborhoods of Cleveland and also communities like East Cleveland, Elyria, Euclid, Lorain, Maple Heights, etc. Even my community of Shaker Heights, particularly along the western and southwestern streets close to Cleveland's Mount Pleasant neighborhood, has numerous empty lots where viable housing units once stood. While there is currently high demand for a low inventory of housing in particular areas, that demand is not uniform across the region. Communities that do not offer the quality of service and lifestyle people with the means to purchase a home expect will not see a resurgent demand for their housing stock anytime soon. There is plenty of opportunity for developers to build/revitalize north, west and south of University Circle (i.e. in the City of Cleveland) and completely avoid East Cleveland. This is why you will continue to see revitalization happen in the Circle North, Fairfax, Hough, Little Italy and Midtown neighborhoods of Cleveland rather than East Cleveland.

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

you really can't make a "plan" to "revitalize" a place like East Cleveland. It's completely gutted. So much of the housing has just been sitting around rotting for 30 years and beyond any hope of anyone willing to try to rehab, if it's even possible. The best thing EC could hope for is a couple big companies buying up tons of land, razing it completely, and building some massive new headquarters or plant or something.

I wouldn't raise the whole town. I would hang on to what you can and reuse where possible. There are still some viable neighborhoods along Terrace Rd along the lower section of EC and there are housing revitalization plans afoot around the old Micky's Auto refinishing building as well as a substantial mixed-use apt complex along a vacant building site adjacent to the Superior Rapid station. And, as I said, there are pressures for stability and growth in the Univ. Circle and SW Glenville borders. The old 'let the wrecking ball swing' and knock it all down approach was misguided 1960s 'urban renewal' and I'm definitely against that ... even for a struggling community as East Cleveland.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by TheProf

I wouldn't raise the whole town. I would hang on to what you can and reuse where possible. There are still some viable neighborhoods along Terrace Rd along the lower section of EC and there are housing revitalization plans afoot around the old Micky's Auto refinishing building as well as a substantial mixed-use apt complex along a vacant building site adjacent to the Superior Rapid station. And, as I said, there are pressures for stability and growth in the Univ. Circle and SW Glenville borders. The old 'let the wrecking ball swing' and knock it all down approach was misguided 1960s 'urban renewal' and I'm definitely against that ... even for a struggling community as East Cleveland.

I don't know, as someone who goes from Collinwood to the Heights with regularity, it really is bleak. I don't think this would be urban renwal. Urban renewal destroyed what were simply lower middle class neighborhoods. East Cleveland is much more hopeless. There are entire blocks that are rotting out. Including massive complexes off Terrace Road.

I don't know what you do about EC. The futures of Glenville, Buckeye, Slavic Village all seem brighter to me.

[QCongress83216]

I really wish Cleveland could annex East Cleveland so they could join up.

[216facts]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

I really wish Cleveland could annex East Cleveland so they could join up.

This is the best scenario for EC, without a doubt. I believe Cleveland is willing to start discussing this as along as the state kicks in a large $$ amount, rightfully so.