Cities are at War

Last night I saw the film Urbanized, a documentary film by Gary Hustwit. The film takes a global look at cities and the issues they are facing moving forward. The overcrowding in India, the loss of identity through the explosive growth in China, transportation issues facing auto-centric South America, and the all-too-well-known sprawl and decay in the U.S.

New York, Detroit, and Phoenix. were chosen to represent America's good, bad and ugly. There wasn't a lot of new information here for someone who follows urban policy and issues with some regularity, but I did appreciate something that was said during the Phoenix, Arizona segment. An interview was done with a lawyer who dealt with real estate law and the topic was sprawl. Though the interview was likely more legal focused, the conversation moved to the idea of personal choice and the city v. the suburbs. The gentleman who was being interviewed spoke boldly and said, "I like the city, I can appreciate the small urban condo for about 2 months out of the year, but I've got 3/4 of an acre out here. I like my pool, I like my yard. This is what you get in the post war, automobile focused city. The roads, the housing, the space, it isn't "evil", it's the next evolution of the city.

Now, this may irk many readers, but the truth is he is right. Main street has been replaced with the highway, and distances of 15 feet between shops are now 1.5 miles between exits. The time it takes a New Yorker in Manhattan to walk from their apartment to their local grocery store might be the same as it takes an Ohio suburbanite to get from their living room to the parking lot of their grocery store. Convenience is often cited as the benefit of living in a city where "everything is so close you", but this is a flawed argument when you realize that the suburbs were built for convenience. This argument is especially true in Cleveland where one can get from a suburb 5 miles out of downtown to their East 9th street office in less time than many could walk or ride a bus from an Ohio City house or University Circle apartment.

As a native Clevelander, and someone who wants the city to thrive and grow, I look at the mentality of comfortable suburbanites and try to consider what benefit the city has over the suburbs -- to them.

This brings me to the second piece that stood out. During a sequence featuring Detroit and New York, the narrator came over the music to say "cities are at war with each other, they are fighting for the ultimate resource: people." I was instantly reminded of the long criticized comparison of Cleveland to New York. When people used to compare Cleveland to her bigger siblings that comparison would be criticized and a replacement of Cleveland v. Minneapolis would be offered.

But the war between cities does not discriminate by category or class. New York, L.A., Washington, Charlotte, Miami, and yes Cleveland are all battling to bring in new citizens. The most sought after population are college graduates in their 20s. Since the vast majority of
people growing up in the greater Cleveland area are from the suburbs, their perception of "Cleveland" is based on two images, their suburban communities, and their seat at Progressive Field. There are no urban streetscapes, mass transit routes, apartments, or local cafes in their vision of Cleveland. Instead they instantly think of Manhattan or Chicago when they think "the city". Some, while in college, will do internships in Cincinnati or visit a girlfriend's family in Boston. Over time the average (greater) Clevelander will have an unbalanced comparison in mind when deciding where to move at 23.

So, should we compare ourselves to New York and Chicago? I say yes. Should we develop policies, goals, and planning that are parallel? No. That is the key difference. We should not focus our limited resources the way a bigger city might. We need to work on attracting a core community to downtown, and offering services and lifestyle opportunities that young urban persons want. We need corner stores, grocers, walkable streets, and community events. We need yoga in the park, and urban religious centers. Though jobs are an essential part of the city, the community needs a much more elaborate set of amenities. If you compare the Warehouse District to Chelsea, the Gateway Neighborhood to Wrigleyville, or University Circle to Dupont Circle you can gain invaluable data on what works and what doesn't.

We need to ask ourselves what are we missing? From the smallest detail to the largest factors what does Cleveland lack that Dallas or Seattle have? The answers are all around us if we only look.

Cities Are At War. It is a global battle for young and talented entrepreneurs, it is a national battle for popularity, and it is a local battle to offer the best neighborhoods - the best daily quality of life. Cleveland can win the war by focusing on neighborhoods and lifestyle, by working from the sidewalk up to make every Clevelander's day better. Make the streets walkable, the jobs plentiful, and the bars manifold and we'll win the day.