Great Lakes Green Pages

I spent a few weeks in Seattle, and it only made me miss Cleveland more.  Being a transplant from the Pacific Northwest, it was quite a culture shock moving to Cleveland, Ohio.  America’s heartland, land of manufacturing, steel country.  But after living here for a decade, it is clear that things in the region have changed.  Out of necessity and a change in the general economy, Cleveland has burst forth with new ideas and is poised to be the cutting edge of sustainability with a new “green” economy.

Sure, there are a lot of things going on in the Seattle/Bellevue metropolitan region that make Cleveland pale by comparison.  Jobs comes to mind.  I heard on the local news that Bellevue, Washington has an unemployment rate of just over 5%.  That is lower than the Puget Sound region in general by nearly a percentage point and almost half of the national average.  But before you pack up the station wagon to head west, keep this in mind.  The AVERAGE house price in Bellevue is nearly $500,000.  The city is not populated with mansions, it is just a very expensive market.  Also, keep in mind that much of the economy in and around Seattle is built on technology-Microsoft and the like.

What is Cleveland doing?  We have lost much of our manufacturing base and the jobs that go with them.  As we strive to reinvent ourselves, we are tapping into our roots to find new products to make use of our real estate and form alliances to bring new manufacturing and new technologies to the region.  Let’s face it, California cannot keep up with the manufacture of solar panels, so Toledo is filling in the gaps.  If we can do the same with things like wind turbine parts and smart grid pieces, then the future of Cleveland’s new economy is bright.  Furthermore, as technology shrinks the world, major players in corporate America begin  to see Cleveland as an attractive place to build a new hub.  Centrally located to much of the country’s population, and with a low cost of living, it is an ideal place to set up shop.  Where else could you put a brand new headquarters right on lake front property, within an 8 hour drive of 75% of America’s populace and do it for about what a nice house would cost in a Seattle neighborhood.  And a CEO pulling down a million dollars a year can live like a Saudi prince in NE Ohio.

Seattle also beats out our region in traffic.  Commutes can be two hours each way and people do it every day.  Spending an hour in your car to get anywhere is not surprising.  This has, however, led to the development of dense urban neighborhoods.  If you want to be i the city, then they need to build a lot of stuff in a small area to make room for all those urbanites.  Every little neighborhood sports shopping, groceries, restaurants, and services.  Conversely, suburbs also have to provide more amenities, as the ability to “run into town” is nearly impossible.  This is where Cleveland can learn a thing or two.  Urban flight and suburban growth has led to sprawl and the loss of a vibrant downtown.  Gone forever is the Cleveland “garment district” and the downtown shopping at such renowned locations as Halle’s, the May Company and Higbee’s.   Replacing it are upscale suburban malls like Beachwood Place.  Tower City has given way to lifestyle centers like Legacy Village and Crocker Park.  Ease of access to the city center has made suburban living and downtown employment attractive and led to great buildings being replaced by surface parking lots.  In Seattle, as traffic worsens, public transportation has finally begun to take on a more meaningful role in the region.  Cleveland, however, continues to provide public transportation that is geared toward serving those who cannot private transportation.  Further, it cuts services and routes to the areas that could most benefit from expansion.

In the ares of waste and recycling, Cleveland is on par with much of the services of the Puget Sound area.  Just like Ohio, Washington has no bottle deposit, so cans and bottles are routinely tossed into garbage out of convenience.  From my observations, curbside recycling is not uniform within all the various city designations around the Seattle area and public awareness does not seem to be a priority around the region.  While this is similar to the current state of things around NE Ohio, things in Cleveland are improving.  While I saw a few recycling receptacles on Seattle city sidewalks, next to the garbage cans, and some areas had broad based curbside programs, Cleveland has a long term goal of full city curbside recycling over the next few years.  I spotted one compost bin on the sidewalk, whether that was a regular part of life, I do not know.  Cleveland has a pretty active grassroots movement for composting and recycling and major players like the Q and Tower City are implementing big composting plans within their facilities.  With the big companies on board, Cleveland could easily outpace Seattle’s current capacity in a very short time.And don’t forget that Cleveland is soon going to be turning its waste into energy, with its new electric facility that is scheduled for the near future.

The area where Cleveland and NE Ohio seems to be truly ahead is in local foods.  I love to eat and I love food.  While Seattle has the Pike Place Market and an abundance of fresh seafood, in an area with a huge population this is not enough.  I was shocked to see local grocery chains sporting Gulf seafood, Atlantic fish, Australian beef and even South American apples.  While this is not surprising in zones with short growing seasons and no access to the ocean, in a moderate climate with plenty of local farmland, it was shameful.  Furthermore, that watermelon that was shipped from California or Mexico was selling for anywhere from $7-$10.  And it was not that tasty.  Perhaps my experience in trying to always buy local and seasonal when I can has led me to be a bit of a food snob, but I would rather buy a ripe red tomato from a local farmer that 3 tomatoes from a chain that shipped them green from Texas and had almost no flavor.  I mentioned Fresh Fork to friends and family and the concept of a CSA seems completely foreign to all of them, while we have a long list of them here.  I only saw a couple of ads for local farmers markets, while we have dozens around the metro area.  Add to that the growing list of leaders in NE Ohio who are trying to tap into our farmers and their produce as an economic resource and you have something to be proud of.

So, Clevelanders can be proud to be here.  We have a vibrant music, arts and cultural scene and are leading much of the country when it comes to sustainability and creating a new economy.  When someone tells you they just moved here, don’t ask them, “Why CLeveland?”  Instead simply say, “Welcome.  You are gonna love it here!”