Description. Origin of the present Union-Miles neighborhood can be traced to the old village of Newburgh, which held the distinction of being the region's largest settlement at the start of the 19th century. In the mid-1800s Irish and Welsh immigrants came seeking work in the steel mills near East 91 st and East 93 rd streets. Slovenians, Czechs and Romanians began to arrive in the 1890s and continued to settle here well into the 1930s . The neighborhood is predominantly residential east of East 93 rd Street except for a corridor of industry along Harvard Avenue that follows the rail line that heads east toward Solon. Additional industry is located along the rail lines west of East 93 rd Street.
Assets. Among the neighborhood’s most significant assets are:
- the Miles Park Historic District, originally the public square of Newburgh village
- the Earle Turner Recreation Center and Miles YMCA on Miles Road
- the Union-Miles industrial area which provides jobs for many neighborhood residents
- Calvary Cemetery , which acts as a large green space at the edge of the neighborhood
Challenges. Among the challenges faced by the Union-Miles neighborhood today are:
- large numbers of vacant lots scattered throughout the neighborhood
- poor housing conditions, especially in areas west of East 93 rd in close proximity to industrial uses
- small obsolete housing that is difficult to sell
- poor access from industrial areas to the interstate highway system
- lack of room for businesses to expand
Vision. Expanded access to jobs, recreational, and retail opportunities will make Union-Miles a neighborhood in which people desire to live work and play. Among the development opportunities and initiatives proposed are the following:
- consolidate land between East 91 st and East 93 rd south of Union for expansion and new development of industrial businesses
- implement the Bessemer Avenue II extension plan to improve industrial access
- implement streetscape improvements along East 93 rd from Harvard to Miles
- develop a new park from East 96 th to East 100 th between Sandusky and Way
- rehab housing around Carol McClendon Park
- open up access to Carol McClendon Park off of Union Ave. to increase visibility
- create a historic district along Miles between Elmarge and East 113 th
- undertake improvements to facilitate implementation of the City Loop bike route along MLK Blvd. and Aetna Road
Printable version: can be downloaded here.
Maps (current as of May 2007): Assets, Development Opportunities, Land Use (existing and proposed), and Retail Strategies are available here. (PDF)
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