Getting down to business: Keepin' it in the 216

Cleveland’s legacy as the “mistake on the lake” is slowly fading away.  The city has experienced rough periods, and is in a “rebuilding process.” The city’s roots in manufacturing have clearly been abandoned, and the plethora of empty factories serve as a reminder. There have been attempts to renovate these buildings and to re-introduce them as restaurants, night clubs and bars; however, they all seem to have failed.  The answer to Cleveland’s problems will be found visible in the redevelopment of infrastructure and expansion of the downtown area.  

Cleveland needs to focus on urban redevelopment, but before the city is able to pump money into sprucing up the downtown area, it needs the resources to do so.  Cleveland is lacking the funds required to make the much needed improvements, and must find a way to raise them.  One route is to lure businesses away from the suburbs and into downtown.  This will increase tax revenue, and provide the city with funds to begin redevelopment. Programs including tax rebates could be effective and would encourage many businesses that are currently nestled into surrounding suburbs to move into the metropolitan area.  Large companies based in the suburbs, Progressive Insurance for example, who lack downtown offices should be encouraged to move into the city itself. Also, residential development in the metropolitan area would increase tax revenues. A very positive move in recent years was the construction of high rise condominiums on the West Bank of the Flats.  This attracted many young professionals to make their first home purchase in downtown Cleveland.

What does this all mean for JCU students? As we move towards our first jobs, we must consider where we want to begin our adult lives. Cleveland seems like a poor choice for a starter community based on its current economic state, but if you analyze where the city is headed, you will realize that staying in Cleveland after graduation is perfectly sensible. Cleveland offers all of the amenities of larger, more developed cities such as Chicago or New York, at a considerably lower cost of living. The city offers three major sports teams, a lakefront for water recreation, a widespread variety of theatres and museums, and rich cultural districts at a fraction of the cost of bigger cities.

Think of staying in Cleveland as an investment. Cleveland is currently “trading” at a low price. As the city redevelops through new industry, development of the lakefront and an expanding medical market, the “trading value” of Cleveland will rise. If you buy into Cleveland while it is at its low state, you will be reaping the benefits of the city’s economic comeback. It is a blank slate of opportunity, a city in need of talented young people to shape its future. Investing in Cleveland will pay dividends for the rest of your working life.