The Evergreen Cooperative in Cleveland

By Zach Crafton. Last week I had the opportunity to take part in GLUE's very informative and interactive conference. The three day event, which pulled together nearly 100 individuals from the Great Lakes region, took place in the heart of downtown Cleveland. Unlike many typical conferences, participants were not confined to the boundaries of the hotel (although the arcade is quite lovely) or even limited to the downtown area. Instead, we were encouraged to get out and experience Cleveland and all it has to offer, as well as learn a few lessons from projects that are working and some that are not.

That being said, last Friday afternoon, I eagerly took advantage of the opportunity to visit and learn more about one of Cleveland’s most innovative programs. A team of GLUEsters and me hopped on a bus and headed for the city’s east side to tour a commercial-scale laundry facility created by the Evergreen Cooperative. Now, I recognize that a laundry facility might not elicit intense excitement in most, but this laundry company is different in a number of ways.

Photo from Cleveland Plain Dealer

First, it focuses on environmental sustainability and exceeds all industry “green” standards. Second, it leverages its location to nearby anchor institutions (i.e. University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, Case Western University, etc.) by focusing on their current/future demands for laundry services to create jobs in the community that would otherwise be lost to businesses outside of the neighborhood. Lastly, it is a worker-owned operation, focused on creating local jobs, community wealth (rather than simply providing a “living wage”) and equity in a neighborhood that has faced disinvestment and many other barriers.

The tour of the Evergreen Laundry Cooperative was hot (literally), but thoroughly interesting. I especially liked watching the laundry move from station to station on various mechanizes, which to me resembled Mouse Trap, a wacky board game I enjoyed as a child. Following the tour we were given a short presentation about the Evergreen Cooperative and its other worker-owned companies, including Ohio Solar Cooperative and the GreenCity Growers Cooperative. For more information on this nationally recognized program visit http://www.evergreencoop.com/.

GLUE Urban Laboratories Conference

By Katherine Buckingham. I just attended the Great Lakes Cities Urban Laboratories Conference in Cleveland, Ohio hosted by GLUE (Great Lakes Urban Exchange).  Over eighty people from across the Great Lakes region attended this exciting event.  It was three days of Cleveland tours and field trips, inspired speakers, brainstorming, and problem solving dedicated to the cause of renovating our rust belt cities throughout the region.  It was great to see so many young people committed to the revitalization of their cities.

The conference was themed around the Re-imagine a More Sustainable Cleveland plan which is an innovative strategy to put vacant land in Cleveland back into productive use.   Neighborhood Progress, Inc is working with the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative at Kent State on this effort.  Bobbie Reichtell of NPI and Terry Schwarz of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative gave an excellent presentation to frame the project.  Participants then worked in groups throughout the conference to think of signature projects for Re-imagining Cleveland 2.0.  This new version of the project is called Re-imagining a Greater Cleveland, and it is a county-wide framework for the use of vacant land.

Some of the suggestions for signature projects included variations of the “Mini-Emerald Necklace” plan to create off-road biked and pedestrian greenway.  Another idea was to use materials from deconstructed buildings to create an inter-generational playground placed on vacant land.  Other suggestions included urban agriculture related projects.  Do you have any ideas for Re-imagining Cleveland signature projects?

Happy Birthday Cuyahoga County Land Bank!

Congratulations to the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation for finishing its inaugural year. So far, the land bank has acquired 212 properties and is on track to acquire an additional 500, due in large part to innovative deals they have finalized with Fannie Mae and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Greater Ohio hopes to send our birthday wishes next year to additional counties that have recently received access to this important tool and looks forward to continuing to keep you updated on  best practices and progress throughout Ohio in addressing the challenges caused by vacant and abandoned properties.

The Importance of Walkability

By Gene Krebs

Greater Ohio has been forecasting for several years that people would be and are already choosing to move to walkable communities and leave the car-centric city behind.  According to a recent article from the Wall Street Journal, the free market is now validating this assertion in stronger terms than we had anticipated.  The article explains that the desire to live in a walkable community is reshaping the real estate market.

"Today's home buyers aren't just looking for good schools and low crime rates when they evaluate a neighborhood, many brokers say. They're paying much more attention to what they can walk to."

This article confirms that the increased interest in walkability is not just a blip, but a burgeoning trend that is worthy of the attention of homeowners and policy makers alike.  If you want to checkout the walkability of your neighborhood, visit https://www.redfin.com/how-walk-score-works.

Ohio Foreclosure Legislation Stalled

Despite statistics from the Ohio Supreme Court showing that foreclosure filings in Ohio have experienced an annual increase for the past 14 consecutive years andmore than 24,700 foreclosure filings occurred in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 9 percent over the same time period last year, the Ohio Senate has decided to postpone until after the Summer break consideration of several key pieces of legislation designed to protect homeowners and renters in the event of a foreclosure.

Three specific pieces of legislation have passed the Ohio House, but have all stalled in the Ohio Senate, that would help address concerns that Greater Ohio and others have expressed with various parts of the foreclosure process. House Bill 3 would regulate mortgage servicers and charge a filing fee, the proceeds of which would return to communities to fund prevention counseling and foreclosure mitigation programs.  House Bill 9 would require landlords to notfiy current and potential tenants if a property is or will soon be in foreclosure. The final bill, House Bill 323, would limit the amount of time that properties are vacant and deteriorating by requiring that the mortgage holder file for default judgment in a foreclosure proceeding within a set period of time or risk a court ruling that they abandoned their interest in the property. It also establishes penalties to discourage homeowners from vandalizing their foreclosed property.

Greater Ohio, informed by a combination of extensive research and outreach around the state with our local partners, has stressed the need to pass a legislative package of foreclosure protection and corrective action bills most recently in our jointly issued report with the Brookings Institution, Restoring Prosperity: Transforming Ohio's Communities for the Next Economy, and in a paper released last year, Addressing Ohio's Foreclosure Crisis: Taking the Next Steps, commissioned by Greater Ohio and written by national urban affairs expert Alan Mallach.

We encourage you to contact your local representatives of the General Assembly, particularly your Ohio Senate members, throughout the summer and ask them to research these important bills and also urge the Ohio Senate in particular to take action on the legislation when they return in the fall. Unfortunately as statistics such as the ones from the Ohio Supreme Court show, Ohio’s foreclosure problem is getting worse not better and the time for reform is now.

On the GO (The Greater Ohio Newsletter)

Check out the new format of Greater Ohio's Newsletter, On the GO. If you are not signed up to receive these newsletters, please sign up here.  Here is the top story from the newsletter: Experts Converge to Provide County Land Bank Training

Greater Ohio Policy Center, in partnership with the newly formed Center for Community Progress, whose goal is to create vibrant communities through reuse of vacant, abandoned properties with offices in both Washington, D.C. and Flint, Michigan, hosted an interactive training session for select counties on Ohio’s current land bank law, which was recently expanded to an additional 41 counties.

Over 60 representatives from 11 counties participated in the daylong event with presentations by Greater Ohio’s Lavea Brachman, the Center for Community Progress’s Dan Kildee and Amy Hovey, as well as Gus Frangos, President of the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation.

Greater Ohio, a key figure in the legislation that enabled additional counties to access this important tool, provided specific information on Ohio’s legislation that addresses county land banks. From Dan Kildee, former Genesse County Treasurer, participants learned about the basic concepts behind a county land bank and how the entity is financially structured. Amy Hovey, a former consultant to the Genesse County Land Bank and integral in its development, discussed various land bank models throughout Michigan and the country to show how this important tool could be customized to meet the needs of individual counties. Finally, Gus Frangos provided first-hand knowledge on how to set up a county land bank in Ohio as well as provided practical advice on the trigger points for different operation and policy decisions and the pitfalls to avoid.

Greater Ohio hopes to continue to edcuate counties on this powerful tool to address the foreclosure and vacant property crisis plaguing our communties, so continue to check our website for additional trainings.

ODOT Provides Clean and Green Buses for Local Transit

Using federal money that was allocated in the last transportation budget, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) announced Wednesday that it will direct $15 million to local transit authorities across the state to purchase 41 clean fuel buses. ODOT Director Jolene M. Molitoris made the announcement during a rain-soaked press conference at the department's Columbus headquarters that featured one of the buses already purchased by the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA). She said she hopes it will be just the first investment in cleaner technology by the department.

COTA President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Lhota said the two buses purchased with ODOT funds will join with $2.1 million in Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds to bring the transit authority's fleet up to six hybrid diesel buses. The hybrid buses featured a battery-powered electric motor and a diesel-fueled combustion engine. The 40-foot bus seats up to 39 passengers or up to 83 with standees. At a cost of $573,620 each, they are more expensive than the standard low-sulfur diesel buses that cost $341,141 each. Lhota said the hybrids are expected to last about 12 years, the same amount of time as a regular bus.

Still, Lhota and Pat Stephens, the vice president of operations, said that they will run the hybrid buses on heavily traveled routes with numerous stops along with the regular diesel buses and collect data on the performance of the vehicles to demonstrate what kind of benefit the buses have for COTA. ODOT said it received nearly $33 million in applications from local and regional transit authorities across the state.

Receiving funds are: • Akron Regional Transit Authority ($2 million) - four hybrid electric/diesel 40 ft. buses • Central Ohio Transit Authority ($1.2 million) - two hybrid electric/diesel 40 ft. buses • Clermont Transportation Connection ($750,000) - two diesel 40 ft. buses • Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority ($2.3 million) - four hybrid electric/diesel 40 ft. buses • Miami County Public Transit ($150,000) - two diesel light transit vehicles • Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority ($375,000) - five diesel light transit vehicles • Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority ($1.9 million) - three hybrid electric/diesel 40 ft. buses • Springfield City Area Transit ($684,320) - four hybrid electric/diesel 30 ft. buses • Stark Area Regional Transit Authority ($2.3 million) - six biodiesel 30-35 ft. buses • Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority ($3.3 million) - eight biodiesel 30-35 ft. buses • Washington County/CABL ($75,000) - one diesel 30 ft. bus

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