With grant funds from the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Tiger program and its own matching contribution, the City of Cleveland set out to define a collective vision for the neighborhoods connected by the Number 10 Bus route and to reintegrate vacant land holdings and below median income households into the regional economy.

LOCATION
Cleveland, OH, USA

CLIENT
City of Cleveland Planning & Development Department

ROLE
Project management and technical advisement as part of AECOM team

Socio-Economic Context

This No. 10 bus corridor follows E 105th Street south from Bratenahl through St. Clair/Superior, then through Glennville, University Circle, then south to Fairfax where it connects to Woodhill Rd via Quincy Street. The corridor then connects southward through Woodhill, Buckeye, Kinsman, and Union Miles. Overall the one bus route covers 7 miles in length. It crosses 9 high volume bus routes, 2 rapid lines and the health line.

While population in the Greater Cleveland area has declined slightly since 2000, the corridor has declined at an accelerated rate. The northern section has declined by -3.2% annually since 2000, approximately 12 times the rate of the metro area. The central (-1.8%) and southern (-2.9%) sections have declined at approximately seven and ten times the rate of the metro area respectively. While median household income in the corridor is relatively consistent with the City of Cleveland ($26,476), it falls short of half of the metro area ($50,124), county ($44,009) and state ($49,011) levels of income. According to the US Census, median household income in the United States is approximately $54,000, three times larger than the median household income in the corridor. 2015 median household incomes in Southern ($19,911), Central ($18,384), and Northern ($19,775) Cleveland fall below the median city income.

Proposed Interventions

The proposed streetscape, transit, and economic development enhancements seek to provide better access to employment, improve public safety, support healthier lifestyles and strengthen community pride. The 7 mile long E 93rd Street, Woodhill Rd and E105th Street corridor engages 8 neighborhoods with significant vacancy challenges. By mobilizing under-utilized land and investing in public realm amenities, the corridor can foster new entrepreneurial momentum and a high quality of life for residents and businesses. The planning effort includes BRT level amenities for transit riders and establishes redevelopment plans and design guidance for 6 strategic corridor neighborhoods.

This plan seeks to unite the aspirations of each community into a coordinated playbook that each can follow, work towards and benefit from. The plan identifies ways in which communities along route #10 can work together to attract new investment and foster a renewed spirit of entrepreneurship all while emphasizing their neighborhood’s unique citizens, attributes, and history. This plan seeks to unite the aspirations of each community into a coordinated playbook that each can follow, work towards and benefit from.

Vacant Buildings and Land

Community members identified the highly visible presence of vacant buildings and underutilized land as a significant barrier to improving the community. Vacancy patterns were analyzed to better understand how corridor enhancements could change perceptions. Data was gathered from the Western Reserve Land Conservancy’s 2016 “Cleveland Property Inventory” report and from the Cuyahoga County GIS portal.

Triple Bottom Line

The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) process included development of environmental, social, and financial indicators for supporting project prioritization over the development of the Thrive 105-93 project. This map highlights the distribution and intensity of investments proposed as part of the Thrive 105-93 project. In concert with other components, the Thrive 105-93 project recommends addition 853 new light posts along the corridor to enhance safety performance, re-purposes 17% (or 195 acres) of vacant land back into use along the route corridor, and stages investment for 86% of the length of the corridor.