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| Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium | |
|---|---|
| Name | Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium |
| Abbreviation | NEO-SCC |
| Formation | 2009 |
| Type | Regional planning consortium |
| Region | Northeast Ohio |
Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium
The Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium was a regional planning partnership formed to coordinate land use, transportation, and environmental planning across the Cleveland-Akron metropolitan area. It brought together municipal, county, academic, philanthropic, and civic institutions to develop a shared comprehensive plan that linked Cleveland, Akron, Cuyahoga County, Summit County, Portage County and neighboring jurisdictions. The consortium produced a strategy that intersected with federal initiatives and state programs in the Midwestern United States.
The consortium was launched in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis with seed support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, and federal agencies such as the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development through national competitions. Early partners included regional actors such as Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University, Kent State University, University of Akron, and civic organizations like Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and Cuyahoga Land Bank. The consortium’s work coincided with contemporaneous efforts like the Sustainable Communities Initiative and national dialogues involving Obama administration urban policy, and intersected with programs in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and the Great Lakes region. Its planning process referenced precedent projects like the Cleveland Metroparks master plans, regional transportation studies affiliated with Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, and land-use approaches used in Portland, Oregon and Chicago metropolitan planning exercises.
NEO-SCC stated goals aligned with multi-jurisdictional aims: to promote reinvestment in existing communities, coordinate transit and freight corridors, protect natural resources including the Cuyahoga River, and prepare for demographic shifts such as suburban decline and urban revitalization. The consortium set targets comparable to national goals promoted by HUD and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, emphasizing brownfield redevelopment in former industrial corridors like those adjacent to Burnham Boulevard and the Steel Valley communities. It aimed to integrate land use plans used by counties like Lorain County and Medina County with municipal capital investments guided by foundations such as the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The consortium operated as a coalition of municipal governments, counties, regional agencies, universities, philanthropic organizations, and non-profit partners. Governance included steering committees with representatives from Cuyahoga County Executive Office, Summit County Executive, municipal mayors of Cleveland Heights, Lakewood, Elyria, and county planning departments. Technical advisory bodies drew on expertise from academic centers such as the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Weatherhead School of Management, and the Center for Neighborhoods (Akron). Funding and oversight involved coordination with federal entities like Federal Transit Administration grantees and state offices including the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Key outputs included a regional visioning document, scenario planning tools, and pilot reinvestment projects focused on transit-oriented development near RTA Rapid Transit, freight-access corridors serving the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, and adaptive reuse of facilities in former manufacturing hubs like Youngstown-area supply chains. Initiatives featured community engagement campaigns in neighborhoods such as Tremont and Ohio City, workforce development linkages with Cuyahoga Community College, and green infrastructure pilots informed by work at the Cleveland Water Alliance. The consortium promoted pilot brownfield remediation in concert with the Environmental Protection Agency. It also produced mapping and analytics supported by partnerships with entities like NOACA and academic GIS labs at Kent State University Geauga Campus.
NEO-SCC convened partners across philanthropy and government: foundations including The Cleveland Foundation, Saint Luke's Foundation, and national funders such as Ford Foundation contributed alongside municipal match funding and federal grants from HUD Sustainable Communities. Technical collaborations involved Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), regional transit agencies such as the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, economic development organizations like Team NEO, and environmental NGOs including Cleveland Botanical Garden-affiliated programs. Universities provided research capacity through centers at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Kent State University and University of Akron. Private-sector participants included regional developers, real estate firms active in projects near East 4th Street (Cleveland), and transportation contractors engaged with Port of Cleveland logistics.
The consortium’s process produced a regional growth framework that influenced subsequent capital investments, zoning revisions, and grant applications across participating jurisdictions. Outcomes included demonstration projects in infill development, policy recommendations adopted by counties and cities, and grant-winning applications for infrastructure and brownfield work that leveraged funding from EPA Brownfields Program and state revolving funds administered by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The initiative informed practice at neighborhood scales in Shaker Heights, Warrensville Heights, and suburban retrofit strategies in communities such as Berea. Academic partners published case studies and planning tools that were referenced by practitioners in Midwest regional planning forums and national networks like the American Planning Association.
Critics argued that the consortium’s regional vision did not sufficiently address questions of equity for residents of historically disinvested neighborhoods and that some pilot projects favored areas with existing development momentum such as Downtown Cleveland and University Circle. Observers raised concerns about the influence of major foundations including Knight Foundation and The Cleveland Foundation on priority-setting, and debates surfaced over trade-offs between suburban land banking in places like Lake County and reinvestment in older urban neighborhoods. Questions were also posed regarding the sustainability of implementation given shifts in federal priorities during the 2010s and competing regional economic development strategies pursued by entities such as JobsOhio.