SOCIAL IMPACTS IN AREAS EXPERIENCING DECLINE
Concentration of Poverty and Welfare Reform
Ohio Works First, the State's welfare reform initiative, mandates that those persons receiving Temporary Assistance
to Needy Families (TANF) obtain employment within three years. A majority of TANF or low-income persons do
not have access to a car. As shown in Maps 4-14 and 4-15, the areas of Cuyahoga and Medina Counties that have
concentrations of households with no vehicles are in the central cities. As shown previously, in Maps 4-14 and 4-15,
these areas correspond with the areas that have high concentrations of low-income populations. Finding reliable and
safe transportation becomes a daily issue. As companies move away from urbanized areas, local employment
opportunities are lost to TANF recipients. The inability of TANF recipients to access areas where jobs are located
will have a profound effect on the rate of success of getting people off of welfare. The areas in these maps showing
households with no cars match almost exactly with the low-income areas shown in Maps 4-11 and 4-12.
As Northeast Ohio's TANF population, which is primarily located in Cuyahoga County, attempts to secure permanent
employment, it may be hindered by the I-71 widening. The widening will foster continued business relocation to
outlying areas, away from the low-income population neighborhoods to distant locations generally inaccessible by
public transit services.
Map 4-13
Low-Income Population in Cuyahoga County, by Census Tract
Map 4-14
Low-Income Population in Medina County, by Census Tract
 >
Map 4-15
Percentage of Households with No Vehicles in Cuyahoga County,
by Census Tract
Map 4-16
Percentage of Households with No Vehicles in Medina County,
by Census Tract
Redevelopment Efforts: Brownfields
The term "brownfield" is applied to property, both land and structures, that has been previously used for a
commercial or industrial purpose and may require remediation.
As growth in the Northeast Ohio region continued to move outward, abandoning the central city and inner-ring
suburbs for previously undeveloped areas or "greenfields", it left behind approximately 14,000 parcels, or 14% of
Cuyahoga County's old industrial and commercial properties, as brownfields.
The future of not just Greater Cleveland, but of all the urban areas in the nation depends on the ability of brownfield
areas to compete for investments with greenfields. Adding transportation capacity for improved access and mobility
in greenfield areas which are not experiencing congestion, while leaving proven urban core congestion unaddressed
in brownfield areas, does not seem to be even-handed public policy when transportation resources are limited.
Church in the City Initiative
In November, 1993, Bishop Anthony Pilla issued "The Church in the City" statement, which analyzed and addressed
the issue of sprawl in Northeast Ohio and challenged the more than one million Catholics in the eight-county diocese
to recognize the interpendence of their lives as a church and as a metropolitan community.
The five key principles which are the basis for the Church in the City are:
- Social Justice
To balance the role of government in such a way that redevelopment and maintenance
of cities and inner suburbs is given as much support as the development of new suburbs. This involves rebuilding
in ways that heal the wounds and close the separations that have been opened and aggravated by what has transpired
over the past forty years.
- Redevelopment
Just as the government can support the development of new suburbs while neglecting
the redevelopment of the older cities, the Church can fall victim to this same strategy. The church, along with
governments, real estate brokers, developers and banks, must create and invest in projects in the older cities.
- Interdependence
City and suburbs are linked by a single economy, as are the City and the Church
linked by a common mission. It is imperative that everyone look beyond their own boundaries when making
decisions that impact the way in which we live in the region.
- Restructuring
To effectively and efficiently serve the people living in the cities, the church will
restructure its organization to increase its presence in society.
- Preferential Love for the Poor
By acknowledging that outmigration has contributed to the existence
of two societies: one poor and living in the older cities and the other more affluent and living in the outer suburbs,
the region cannot turn its back on what it has created.
Schools
The investment in highway capacity and freeway networks has also resulted in effects previously unrecognized. The
following excerpt from a Crain's Cleveland Business December 8, 1997 editorial is evidence of the growing
recognition that highways have caused social and educational inequities.
"And while they're at it, legislators also might think about pulling in the reins on new
highway projects, which perpetuate the urban sprawl that has helped lead to the school-financing mess. Just a
thought..."
Economic Opportunity
Many transportation investments ultimately have direct negative consequences on economic productivity.
If short-term economic activity in one area of a region is stimulated by spending tax dollars on transportation
investments, at the expense of other areas without generating a net addition to the state's economic activity, then
economic development has not occurred. Jobs "created" without regard to the cost of achieving them, does not
represent true economic growth for the area and ultimately drains the quality of life first from the central city and
inner-ring suburbs, and ultimately from the entire region.5
5National Cooperative Highway Research Program. Primer on Transportation Productivity and Economic
Development. Report Number 342. 1991. pg. 12.
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