Neighborhood Transformation Initiative

Mayor Jacksons Neighborhood Transformation Initiative will introduce various housing product types at various price points. This approach will create housing options for new and existing residents at various income levels with the goal of providing housing choice for residents. The ability to move up and down the economic spectrum and remain in a community facilitates economic diversity.

Creating places where people can live, work, play, and shop, in a safe well-connected environment are the basics of any community. We however understand that opportunity and quality of life is not equally distributed. Equity is defined as a fair opportunity to obtain one's full potential. Due to past policy and investment decisions, there exist areas of Cleveland that have suffered disproportionally and will need deliberate focus to create opportunities for residents to realize their full potential.

The Mayors Neighborhood Transformation Initiative will target "fringe neighborhoods" or those that exist just outside of growth areas in the City of Cleveland. These areas have seen disinvestment in the wake of tremendous growth in close proximity. The initiative will utilize a suite of strategic programs, tools, and approaches designed to restore value, create wealth, and opportunity in several targeted geographies citywide. However, this effort will be more than just the dispensation of City resources; the initiative will also require the strategic alignment and deployment of various resources from multiple agencies. By working with select partners who share the value proposition of "equitable neighborhood development", we can ensure that we have the greatest impact on each of the select geographies. The strategies on this website represent the toolkit of actions that will be utilized to facilitate neighborhood transformation in each of the targeted areas.

The Mayors Neighborhood Transformation Initiative will provide new infill scattered site housing development on vacant parcels throughout targeted neighborhoods. New single and multifamily infill homes will add to the residential fabric of the targeted areas and begin the process of improving market confidence in each of the target areas. Both market rate and affordable housing product will be constructed on city-assembled vacant land in the target areas.

Setting the stage for investment has been a key component for the Jackson administration. Mayor Jackson made abandoned property elimination a priority. City and County demolition efforts have resulted in vacant land that will be leveraged for new housing construction, greenspace expansion, and neighborhood beautification.

A key objective of the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative is to ensure that existing residents who own homes in the target area benefit from the public and private investments in new construction. Vulnerable populations such as seniors will be targeted for specific programing resources. Mayor Jacksons Neighborhood Transformation Initiative will therefore focus on critical home repair for existing residents in the target geographies.

Entrepreneur support programs and wrap-around services to promote business development and build wealth for residents are important components of the Mayors Transformation initiative. Programs such as Core-City Cleveland (offers free one-on-one business advising services), credit repair, retail incubator program, and financial literacy training, and micro lending are a few of several programs that will be used to foster entrepreneurship.

The Mayors Neighborhood Transformation will reinforce the idea of creating walkable neighborhoods where residents can access goods and services in walking distance from their home. Mixed use developments will be to developing walkable neighborhoods and restore value back into our commercial corridors. Transit Oriented Development along commercial corridors will combine residential, commercial, and greenspace on single sites that will begin to transform strategic corridors in the identified target areas.

The Mayors Neighborhood Transformation Initiative will focus on streetscape and road enhancements within each of the target areas. The City Planning Commission and the department of Public Works will partner to identify road conditions in each of the target areas utilizing the Cityworks pavement management platform designed to grade streets based on their condition. Road Improvements will ensure that the neighborhood is accessible and that street conditions complement new investment.

The Mayors Neighborhood Transformation Initiative will target vacant parcels that are underutilized and are poorly maintained. These lots will be cleaned, greened, and stabilized to further change the market perception in target areas. Once cleaned, these lots will create opportunity for productive reuse that will include housing, greenspace, agriculture, and other uses that will provide desired community benefits.

The Mayors Neighborhood Transformation Initiative will focus on vacant home rehabilitation as an approach to addressing vacant and underutilized housing. Critical to this effort will be the provision of rehabilitated homes for senior populations. Given the quality of housing stock in the target geographies opportunities to capitalize on existing homes will provide opportunity for new and existing residents and help to maintain the character of housing in neighborhoods. The stabilization of existing homes will also encourage new housing construction.

Innovative programming is essential to the success of the Mayors Neighborhood Transformation Initiative including the programs and tools that will help to create wealth, make investments more equitable, and create opportunity for new and existing residents. The provision of incubator space for entrepreneurship and the introduction of new mortgage products will help decrease the barriers to entry for home and business ownership. The initiative will test new approaches to addressing community needs. These approaches will include new products and services and those that have been developed previously that have demonstrated success.

Providing Digital access to every resident will be important for any City seeking to provide quality of life for its residents. The Mayor’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative will work with local organizations to ensure that access to wireless and broadband connectivity happens. Ensuring that new investments and capital improvements are completed in a manner that provides digital accessibility to all residents will be an important component of the initiative.

Health starts where you live, work, and play! Neighborhood conditions and access to the amenities to lead a healthy lifestyle are critically important for the long-term health prospects of residents. Access to parks, openspace, and recreation amenities are important components to promote population health. The Mayors Neighborhood Transformation initiative will identify opportunities for improvements to parks and greenspaces in addition to the development of trail connections for pedestrians and cyclist. A recent report by the Trust for Public Land provides strong evidence that people exercise more when they have access to parks. Regular Physical activity can reduce risk of disease such as heart disease, colon cancer, and diabetes.